Burke is based at Coverham in North Yorkshire and has sent out 140 winners this season alone, which tells you this is a serious, high-functioning operation. Within that, Native Warrior has carved out a real identity. His career record reads four wins and ten places from 15 races — he wins roughly 1 in every 4 races and finishes in the frame in nearly all of them. That's not a horse who flukes the odd result; that's a horse who consistently performs at a high level.
The recent sequence tells the story best. Of his last six runs, he's won three — finishing 1st, 1st, 3rd, 1st, 5th, and 7th in reverse order. Both wins in the autumn came at Ascot, which matters. Ascot is one of the most prestigious tracks in the country, and Native Warrior has won there twice from four visits — a record that marks him out as a genuine course specialist rather than someone who just happened to show up on a good day. A Class 2 race at Ascot is one of the better prizes on the calendar, and he took two of them in the space of a month last September and October.
There's another layer to him, too. Burke has spoken openly about Native Warrior heading into Group-level company — the very top tier of racing — and recently ran him in a Group 3 in France, where he finished a creditable fifth. That's not a consolation outing; that's a trainer who genuinely believes his horse belongs in elite company. The key, Burke says, is soft, wet ground. Native Warrior loves it when conditions are heavy underfoot, and Burke has been open that he's never seen the horse looking better than he does right now heading into spring 2026.
His most trusted jockey is James Doyle, who has ridden him to 2 wins from their 5 races together — a win rate of 40%, which is exceptional by any measure. At his best distance of seven furlongs to a mile, he has won 3 of 7 races. He raced just one day ago, which confirms this is a horse in the thick of an active campaign. If the ground comes up soft and he heads back to Ascot, it would take a brave person to leave him off the shortlist.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascot Galloping |
4 | 2 wins, 1 third, 1 other | 18 Oct | 50% |
| Doncaster Galloping |
2 | 2 other | 29 Mar | 0% |
| Goodwood Undulating |
2 | 1 second, 1 third | 30 Jul | 0% |
| Newmarket Galloping |
2 | 1 second, 1 third | 25 Oct | 0% |
| Nottingham Galloping |
1 | 1 win | 21 May | 100% |
| Newcastle Galloping |
1 | 1 win | 28 Jun | 100% |
| Windsor Sharp |
1 | 1 second | 26 May | 0% |
| Naas Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 17 May | 0% |
| Kempton Park Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 6 Apr | 0% |