The often raced and often claimed pacing mare, Diamond Tiara
notched her 20th seasonal victory at Monticello Raceway when she
defeated a field of claimers in a time of 2:00.4 over a sloppy racetrack on
Monday November 17.
With her victory the 7-year-old daughter of McArdle now is
just two wins shy of the track record of 22 victories set by another
claiming pacer, Golden Storm GB, back in 1985.
Once again Jimmy Taggart, Jr. handled the driving chores for
trainer Mike Watson and as he’s done nearly every time before, gunned Diamond
Tiara to the front this time from the five-hole and they had a length and half
lead when they passed the first stanza in :30.3.
From there, it was catch me if you can, and nobody could as
Diamond Tiara made every pole a winning one en route to an easy five-length
victory over Artemis Blue Chip and driver Jimmy Devaux.
“She (Diamond Tiara) has raced her heart out all season
long and those miles on the front end have taken a toll on the ole gal,”
Taggart said after the race.
“She’s always been game but lately she’s been tailing off at
the end of a mile. Today the muddy track probably didn’t sting her as
much and she finished like her old self.”
Asked if the track record for most wins in a season is an
objective, Taggart answered; “ We’ll take it week by week. If she wins
again soon then we’ll probably look to at least tie the record. But she’s not
the soundest horse in the world.”
Again owned by (Phillip)Mike Schultz after multiple claims
to get her back, Diamond Tiara was sent off at odds of 4-5 and paid $3.60 for
win.
