real desire
Bred by Fair Island Farm, world champion pacer Real Desire was foaled on March 27, 1998 in Versailles, Kentucky. Owned by Blair Burgess, Robert Burgess, Karin Olsson Burgess and Brittany Farms during his racing career, Real Desire was trained by Blair Burgess and driven primarily by John Campbell.
In three racing seasons (2000-2002), pacer Real Desire amassed over $3 million, clocked nine sub-1:50 victories and was honored with Horse of the Year awards in both the United States and Canada. At the time of his retirement, Real Desire was ranked third among the leading moneywinning pacers of all time. He recorded 25 wins out of 40 starts, finishing off the board only twice in his career.
As a two-year-old in 2000, Real Desire was victorious in eight of his ten starts, including a division of the Champlain Stakes, the Nassagaweya Stake and the Kentucky Sire Stakes final, where he set a 1:50.4 world record mile for two-year-old pacers. During his 2001 sophomore season Real Desire continued to show brilliance with wins in the Meadowlands Pace, the Hoosier Cup, a division of the Bluegrass and the Breeders Crown final. He closed the season with a 17-7-7-2 record and earnings of $1,646,036.
Real Desire’s 2002 four-year-old season included wins at his second Breeders Crown final, the Canadian Pacing Derby and the U.S. Pacing Championship. He finished the season with a 13-10-1-1 record and $1,059,790 in earnings, and was elected 2002 Horse of the Year and Pacing Horse of the Year in both the U.S. and Canada. In 2008, Real Desire was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
As a stallion, Real Desire has total North American foal earnings of over $54.5 million, with 312 in 1:55 and 163 $100,000 winners. He is the sire of 2015 Canadian Pacing Derby and U.S. Pacing Championship winner, 2015 O’Brien Horse of the Year State Treasurer p,6,1:47 ($1,817,586) and 2007 O'Brien Horse of the Year, Little Brown Jug and North America Cup winner Tell All p,3,1:48.3 ($1,509,227). Real Desire is the grandsire of 2013 Dan Patch Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year and 2014 Meadowlands Pace winner, world champion He’s Watching p,3,1:46.4 ($1,116,450).