TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/974613
They aggressively went after a horse named A Rocknroll Dance, buying him be- fore he turned three. After an outstanding 2-year-old year in 2011, he was a bit of a dis- appointment at 3, but turned into a huge star at 4, becoming the first pacer in har- ness racing history to win three consecutive races in sub 1:46 miles. Diamond Creek had done more than buy a top stallion, it had earned the credibility it had so sorely need- ed. Bowden's innovative move had paid off. Diamond Creek is now in play for any fu- ture stallion that comes off the track and is closing in on Hanover in that department. It has seven stallions to Hanover's 10 and the Diamond Creek roster includes Horse of the Year Always B Miki, 2013 Trotting Colt of the Year Father Patrick and Downbythesea- side, the champion 3-year-old pacing colt of 2017. To get where he is, Bowden relied on a lot more than his father's money. He says he is obsessed with studying breeding lines and looking for angles, something he was doing back when he was an intern at Hanover. He doesn't just go for a mare because it will command top dollar at the sales or a stal- lion because it was a successful race horse. He has very distinct ideas about what he is looking for and won't take just any horse. "I want to know that any success I might have came from hard work and determina- tion and outsmarting people or out-figuring someone else," he said. "That's how I've al- ways been since I was a kid." Bowden believed that the same theories A Rocknroll Dance