There was a time in the early sixties when no handicap race was complete without a horse owned by Dave Diamond.

The hooves of his Kentucky bred Balladiers were providing an impressive drum role and his stable was the top money winner in the Province. In the 1961 Randall Plate, his brilliant three-year-old Black Balladier and four-year-old Royal Balladier finished one-two while in the Juvenile Championship the entry of Golden Briar and Jr. Balladier were such overwhelming favorites that there was no wagering.

Black Balladier won six of 11 starts that season for earnings of $17,190, which was a record at Exhibition Park and indicates the economics of the times. He was able to buy the Balladiers, all sons of Mr. Music, for a few thousand dollars and convert it into huge enjoyment.

Diamond joined his younger brother Jack in racing in the early forties when he bought Ascot maid from track operator Sam Randall. Ascot maid had modest success but his second runner Steveston Bill fared much better.

His first trainer was Ed Trusty and he was followed by Bill cochan, John Coghlan, Bunny Johnson and Charlie Ulrich. Under Ulrich, they campaigned their best homebred, the Ascot Sophmore winner Promised Circle.

Diamond purchased his first good horses; Golstreworth, Pineworth, and Cisalworth from Eric Hamber’s Minnekhada Stock Farm. Cisalworth won the second running of the B.C. Derby in 1947. He won another with Black Balladier in 1961.

He captured British Columbia Futuritys with Mybesttoyou in 1951 and Whatshan in 1954.

Overall he was in the winner’s circle after all the major handicaps of that era with the exception of the B.C. Premiers Championships where both Jr. Balladier and Black Balladier finished second. Some of his other handicap runners were Onto Glory, Western Cloud, Utmost and Dos Dominos.

After buying the Double D Farm in Langley in 1969, Diamond wound down his racing operation and concentrated on breeding for the market. He brought the stallion B Major from California but reaped only modest success. The best horse they bred was Corporate Power.

“The farm was a disappointment”, says son Philip. “But he really enjoyed racing, particularly the people. His best times were sitting around the cookhouse with Blackie (John) Lawrence, Gyp the Blood, Fred Dyson and those guys”.

Diamond died earlier this year at age 89.