The Diamond Creek Farm operation under the direction of youthful veteran Adam Bowden has won two top awards for 2023 success in voting conducted by the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA): Owner of the Year, taken by Diamond Creek’s sulky side, Diamond Creek Racing, and Breeder of the Year, in operation as Diamond Creek Farms LLC.
Bowden came out of Maine in 2005 to establish Diamond Creek Farm in Kentucky. He then extended the operation to a Pennsylvania property in 2012, and Diamond Creek has been a continuous rising force on both the racetrack and the breeding shed. No statistics are kept on ownership because of the many partnerships involved, but Diamond Creek Farms’ breeding operation produced the winners of more than $8.8 million during this past year, good for an average of almost $69,511, far in excess of any of its competitors in the top 10 breeders.
A perfect example of the “crossover” of the two Diamond Creek operations would be the three-year-old colt pacer Confederate, the early favourite for U.S. Harness Horse of the Year honours (which will be announced Feb. 25 at the Dan Patch Banquet in Orlando, Florida). A winner of 13 of 15 starts in 2023, he earned a sport-high $1.694 million while taking a mark of 1:46.1, just two ticks off the all-time record, at Lexington. Confederate now goes into the stallion ranks at Diamond Creek’s Pennsylvania farm, where he will join Always B Miki, Bettors Wish and two other stallions about which more will be said shortly. Diamond Creek homebred Cannibal will be standing at Blue Chip Farms in New York in 2024 under the management of Diamond Creek Farm off of a $661,742-earning year.
Other Diamond Creek Farm-bred stars in 2023 include a pair of fillies, the three-year-old trotter Bond and the two-year-old pacer Geocentric, both of whom will draw considerable attention in their divisional championships (the divisional honours will be announced Saturday, Dec. 30 during The Meadowlands’ pre-game show).
In most of their stakes races, Diamond Creek Racing performers wear the farm’s distinctive colours, white with blue and black checkerboards. Harness fans in 2023 saw those colours quite a lot, and figure to be hearing a lot more from the dynamic, up-and-coming Diamond Creek operation in years to come.
Sweet Lou, Tactical Landing inaugural Sire of the Year winners
Remember the aforementioned two additional racehorses who will stand at stud at Diamond Creek in 2024? One is Sweet Lou, who was voted Pacing Sire of the Year as this year USHWA included awards honouring top sires at each gait, paralleling the broodmare program that is in place. The other new Diamond Creek stallion is Tactical Approach, whose sire Tactical Landing sired a devastating 1-2 colt punch last year in the sophomore Tactical Approach and the freshman Karl en route to be the first Trotting Sire of the Year.
Sweet Lou, a son of Yankee Cruiser - Sweet Future (Falcons Future), is owned by the Sweet Lou Syndicate. A champion racehorse, Sweet Lou continues unabated in the breeding barn: he sired both Confederate and another $1 million-winning three-year-old colt pacer in Its My Show, plus three other $500,000+ winners in My Girl EJ, Cannibal and Geocentric (the latter two Diamond Creek horses). Sweet Lou was the top sire of money-winning three-year-olds and was second in both the two-year-old and overall categories. His 110 votes was the most received by anyone in the voting for breeding awards.
Tactical Landing, who made $812,300 at the races, is a son of Muscle Hill - Southwind Serena (Varenne) owned by the Tactical Landing Syndicate. He ranked among the top quartet in earnings among trotting sires for both three-year-olds and two-year-olds, with a millionaire of each age (Tactical Approach, $1,507,989, and Karl, $1,041,989). Mommamia Volo also had a fine year with more than $470,000 bankrolled and a victory in the Kentucky Filly Futurity.
Margarita Momma, Lucys Pearl win broodmare honours
If Trotting Broodmare of the Year Margarita Momma has a familiar-sounding name, you just read about a similarly-named horse – Mommamia Volo, her sophomore daughter, was mentioned above as adding to the luster of Trotting Sire of the Year Tactical Landing with a fine season. The mare Margarita Momma, a daughter of Yankee Glide – Sheena Hall (Conway Hall) leased by Jorgen Jahre Jr. and Kentuckiana Farms LLC, also saw her world champion free-for-all son Amigo Volo add almost $200,000 to his lifetime bankroll, bringing out well above the $2 million total for his lifetime.
In by far the closest contest among the breeding awards contenders, Lucys Pearl edged Western Montana by three votes. A daughter of Well Said – Remember When (Camluck), Lucys Pearl was well-represented on the racetrack by My Girl EJ, the fastest two-year-old, male or female, of 2023 with a 1:49.1 clocking, and a winner of $715,835. The Jug-winning son of Lucys Pearl, Lous Pearlman, won in excess of $340,000 during the past campaign and now has a career bankroll of more than $1.26 million.
Adam Bowden’s Diamond Creek enterprise and the four horses winning a title for prowess in the breeding shed will all be honoured at the annual Dan Patch Awards Banquet, presented by Caesars Entertainment, to be held Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024 at the Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida.
Room reservations at Rosen Centre for the star-studded Dan Patch Awards weekend can be made at the USHWA website at usharnesswriters.com. Sponsorship opportunities for the event can be procured from sponsorship chairman Shawn Wiles at [email protected]. Advertisements in the souvenir journal can be arranged with journal chairman Kim Rinker at [email protected]. Tickets for the banquet can be procured from ticket chairman Judy Davis-Wilson at [email protected] or Liz Cheesman at [email protected].
(USHWA; photos of Adam Bowden, Sweet Lou and Tactical Landing)