Royally-bred, multiple stakes winner Muscle Diamond 2,1:53.4; 3,1:53.2f; 1:50.1 ($834,424) has been retired from racing and will begin stallion service at Cool Winds Farm, Lima, Ohio, for the 2021 breeding season.
The fastest male trotter ever sired by the incomparable Muscle Hill, Muscle Diamond is from the World Champion mare Windylane Hanover 3,1:53 ($1,155,231), and will stand for a stud fee of $4,000.
A fast and ultra-consistent performer, Muscle Diamond finished on the board in 55 of his 70 lifetime starts and recorded 20 victories. At age six, when he took his 1:50.1 record at the Meadowlands Racetrack, he won seven of his 13 seasonal starts, which also included the prestigious Vincennes Trot on Hambletonian Day, defeating some of the top trotters of the day like Pinkman and Obrigado.
Throughout the first four years of his career, he was handled by the leading money-winning driver of all time, John Campbell.
"Muscle diamond was a perfect horse to drive. He had a pure gait with a very high turn of speed,” noted Campbell, the Hall of Famer and now president & CEO of the Hambletonian Society. “He raced at the highest level throughout his career and was very versatile with exceptional speed out of the gate."
Muscle Diamond, pictured victorious with John Campbell.
Earning an average of $119,203 per season in seven years on the track, he raced against the best stakes trotters in North America during his two- and three-year-old seasons.
At two, he won the International Stallion Stakes at Lexington, and was second in both his elimination and the $500,000 Breeders Crown Final (by a head to Hambletonian winner Pinkman) at the Meadowlands. At three, he went back to the Red Mile and captured the Bluegrass Stakes, won numerous other stakes events around the Grand Circuit, and then capped off his sophomore season with a close third in the $500,000 Breeders Crown Final at Woodbine.
When the 2021 breeding season begins, Muscle Diamond will be the fastest trotter to stand in the state of Ohio. In fact, only two horses sired by Muscle Hill have ever trotted faster than Muscle Diamond, and they are both female.
Yankeeland Partners (Charles E. Keller III, Charles E. Keller IV, Brett Bittle and Dan Bittle) selected Muscle Diamond as a yearling, and have owned, trained and campaigned him ever since. Trainer Brett Bittle said, “We are excited to team up with Randy and Kim Haines and their Cool Winds Farm of Ohio to stand Muscle Diamond. We believe his exceptional breeding and talent on the track will be passed on to the next generation. He possessed unbelievable speed, stamina and athleticism ranking as one of the top two-year-olds of his year.”
Yankeeland breeding manager Dan Bittle agreed, “Muscle Diamond has the breeding, ability, attitude and conformation to be an impact sire in the lucrative Ohio program. We are looking forward to breeding, purchasing and racing his sons and daughters in the Buckeye State.”
Coming full circle and impeccably bred, his dam Windylane Hanover won the 2002 $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks, was a world champion, won $1.15 million and went on to be named the 2003 Dan Patch Older Trotting Mare of the Year. She was campaigned by none other than Brett Bittle and owned by the Kellers and Dan Bittle.
Muscle Diamond will stand in 2021 for a stud fee of $4,000, with multiple mare discounts available. For more information, contact Cool Winds Farm at 419-227-2665 or 419-234-6772.
(Cool Winds Farm)