KARL BURKE used to rent a yard from Duran Duran's manager and was visited by Simon Le Bon.

The biggest star to walk around his North Yorkshire yard these days is Royal Ascot winner Quiet Reflection - a filly more interested in new shoes than New Romance.

Nearly three decades after leaving the Midlands, Burke is based at Spigot Lodge in North Yorkshire with a stable of more than 100 horses.

And his own star is now firmly in the ascendancy.

Just nine years ago, he was banned from racing for passing information to an owner. By training Quiet Reflection to victory in the Commonwealth Cup this summer, he chalked up his first Group 1 success in Britain and confirmed his return to the top.

It may have taken 25 years for him to get there but you can rest assured it won't take as long to get to his second.

Burke is aiming for Group 2 success at the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival with Medici Banchiere his big runner in the Gimcrack Stakes on Saturday afternoon.

Quiet Reflection had originally been entered for the Nunthorpe Stakes but was withdrawn to focus on the Group One Sprint Cup at Haydock Park on September 3.

There is little "showbiz" about Burke as we sit down with a mug of tea in his country kitchen to reflect quietly on his progress. He is relaxed, apparently happy to talk, and only seems irritated by the constant buzzing of his mobile phone!

"It was fantastic to win at Ascot and she is certainly the best sprinter I have had," he says. "She had an entry for York but we dismissed that after Newmarket (where she finished third in the Darley July Cup).

"She is a very good filly and, hopefully, she will go to Haydock with a major chance and then to Ascot for QIPCO British Champions Day in October. They will be her only two runs for the rest of the year."

Bought for only £44,000 at the Doncaster sales, the three-year-old has been the subject of bids in excess of £1million since her success at Ascot.

However Burke, a part owner in the horse with the Malton-based OntoAWinner syndicate, insists there are no plans to sell at this stage.

"She is too valuable to keep going but the plan, at the moment, is to keep her in training next year and campaign her at the highest level throughout and see where she takes us," he said.

"We could have some great days out abroad with her. She will be a fully mature filly next year and should be at the top of her game.

"When you buy a horse at the Breeze Ups for £40,000, you don't think you have bought a Group 1 horse, you just hope you have bought a horse that can win races and develop into a Group horse.

"You are paying at the cheap end of the market, so you have to forgive a lot of faults.You can't go and compete with the Arabs and pay the big money to try and buy the perfect horse. You are always looking for the ones that slip through - but they are usually carrying a few faults. You don't really 'find' a horse like Quiet Reflection, they find you."

Burke, meanwhile, no longer keeps in contact with Duran Duran or their former manager Michael Berrow but looks back on the time they crossed paths with affection.

"We had only been training six months and owned a property near Southwell. But we should never have really started there because the facilities weren't good enough," he explained.

"We moved to a second stable owned by Michael Berrow at Broadway near Cheltenham. Him and his brother Paul were the managers of Duran Duran. I really got on with Michael and we were there two and half years.

"Michael lived on the property, Roger Taylor, the drummer, lived close by, and Simon Le Bon did come around, yes. He was good friends with the vet and also went to his wedding! I think they might have been involved in a horse in a small way too. We got on well, they were good people, but we have not spoken for a while."

Is there something we should know?