Columbus, OH --- Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi’s Oil Magnet has certainly enjoyed his new surroundings.

Lisa photo

Winter Survivor Series champion Oil Magnet has been named February Horse of the Month.

Since moving to the Ron Burke barn in December, the 9-year-old son of Western Hanover has been unbeaten in seven starts; four of those wins came in February and earned him Horse of the Month honors from the U.S. Trotting Association.

He began February with a 1:51.3 win in a claiming handicap at the Meadowlands and followed that with two more in preliminary legs of the Winter Survivor Series over the same surface. The second leg win earned him a new mark of 1:51.2 -- faster than he had won in his 150 previous career starts.

In the $86,700 Winter Survivor Series Final, driver Yannick Gingras and Oil Magnet made their winning move just past the half-mile pole and then held the others safe in a 1:53.1 victory over a sloppy track. The win, the 23rd of his career, raised his 2013 earnings to $68,550 and his career bankroll to $328,610.

Burke’s idea to buy Oil Magnet was based upon having briefly trained his half-brother, Crazy For Ever, who had won three of five while under Burke's direction.

“That was part of the reason I was interested,” Burke said in a recent interview with Ken Weingartner of Harness Racing Communications. “It seems like a family that carries its speed into the later years. We like to work with families we’ve had some success with, so we were willing to go there again.”