BY LYNNE SNIERSON, TAMPA BAY DOWNS PRESS OFFICE
OLDSMAR, FL—Cliff Love has been around a lot of good horses in his 71 years but none is as dear to him as his sixth generation homebred Damon’s Mound.
“This horse is a miracle. He’s a beautiful horse. He’s a gift and there’s no doubt about it. I’m amazed at the talent he’s got,” Love said about racing’s newest millionaire, who reached that career milestone when he won the $110,000 NYRA Bets Sprint at Tampa Bay Downs on Florida Cup Day, March 29.
Trained by five-time Eclipse Award winner and Hall of Famer Bill Mott and with regular partner Junior Alvarado in the irons, the Florida-bred Damon’s Mound covered the six furlongs in a blistering final time of 1:08.88 on the main track, which is just .21 seconds off the track record of 1.08.67 set my Florida-bred It’s Me Mom in the same race on April 12, 2012.
Not bad for a 6-year-old horse making his twentieth career start.
“He’s getting faster as he gets older. He’s amazing,” said Love, who co-owns the multiple graded stakes winner with his wife of 46 years, Michele, by phone from his domicile in Friendswood, Texas, a Houston suburb.
Love’s principal business is manufacturing high pressure hoses used in offshore drilling for the oil field industry. But his labor of love is breeding and racing.
“My dad had horses and I really enjoyed being involved with his and giving him my advice about them. The first time I went to the track was in 1979 on a day trip. I flew up to New York and back home the same day to watch one of my dad’s horses run at Aqueduct. That’s how long we’ve been in the business. About 40 years ago I started breeding by myself and have been involved ever since,” said Love, who supports both the Florida and Texas breeding programs. “Michele loves the horses as much as I do. The first time we went to the track together was at Santa Anita in 1985.”
Damon’s Mound is by Grade 1-winner Girvin out of San Antonio Stroll by Stroll. He was foaled at Ocala Stud.
“David O’Farrell raised him and broke him there. He did a good job,” Love said.
The preparation was so good that when Damon’s Mound was sent to trainer Michelle Lovell to begin his juvenile campaign, he won first time out by a dazzling 12 ½ lengths in a maiden special at Churchill Downs on July 2, 2022. The Loves’ phone immediately was ringing off the hook with generous offers to buy the colt. But Love declined the offers and next sent into the Grade 2 Saratoga Special at Saratoga Race Course. Damon’s Mound won that race by three-and-three-quarters lengths prompting more offers for larger amounts.
“As I said, I’ve been doing this a long time. He’s the product of six generations for us and he’s the best one I’ve ever had. I waited a long time for that, so I wasn’t going to sell and let somebody else have all the fun with him,” said Love said.
Love also owned the Florida-bred Xtra Luck, winner of the 2015 Louisville Handicap (G3).
While with Lovell, Damon’s Mound won the Grade 2 Gallant Bob at Parx in September 2023 for a second straight stakes score after taking the $350,000 Robert Hilton Memorial at Charlestown in August with Alvarado aboard both times. After running fourth in the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita in December of that year, Damon’s Mound was due for a break.
On January 18, 2025, the then 5-year-old horse made a triumphant return when he took the $75,000 Sunshine Sprint versus Florida-breds at Gulfstream Park in his first start for Mott with Alvarado aboard. Since joining the Mott stable, Damon’s Mound has won four of nine races, including back-to-back editions of the Sunshine Sprint, the 2025 Grade 3 Bold Ruler at Aqueduct, and Sunday’s NYRA Bets Sprint.
“Junior is the reason the horse is with Bill. He’s a high-class jockey. Junior got to ride the horse a couple of times and won, and I said I wanted to keep this horse as close to Junior as possible. That was the thought behind that. Once I saw him ride the horse, that was it. He rode this horse in that stake at Charlestown and that was on my birthday. As soon as I saw the way he rode him when he won that time, that was it,” Love said. “I’m big on jockeys and I know they make a huge difference. Alvarado has got the gift and I’m amazed at the talent he’s got. Once he partnered with this horse I wanted to keep him on this horse. He’s a very talented jockey and I really appreciate Junior riding the horse for me.”
“Junior got me into the barn and I give him credit for that, too. I kind of talked Bill into letting me get into his barn. If it wasn’t for Junior, I probably couldn’t have gotten into the barn. But Bill likes the horse now,” Love said with a laugh.
Said Mott, who reported that Damon’s Mound came back fine from his run in the NYRA Bets Sprint, “He’s a real warrior. It’s all good for the warrior.”
Damon’s Mound now has a record of eight wins with three seconds and two thirds from 20 starts and became the 190th Florida-bred millionaire with $1,018,405 in earnings. Seven of those victories have come in stakes.
“The horse hasn’t lost a step. Bill Mott hasn’t lost a step either. He’s a fantastic trainer. He’s unbelievable. He’s done it over and over. He’s the best trainer in the world,” Love said. “Bill spaces his races so he doesn’t overexert himself. He does such a good job with him. He’s fantastic. He’s brilliant. He’s got a good feel for the horse, and he has fine-tuned him since he’s had him. He’s gotten the most out of him. With Bill Mott training maybe this horse can keep running for a couple more years.”
Meanwhile, the Loves’ 4-year-old full brother to Damon’s Mound, Grand Gesture, is waiting in the wings. He ran fourth last year in his only start in a maiden claiming at Saratoga and is currently at Ocala Stud.
“He’s a gelding that’s going back to Bill soon. David said he’s huge, he’s a giant, and that’s why he’s taken so long to get to the races. He’s run one time, and he ran decent at Saratoga, but David said he’s the biggest thoroughbred he’s seen. He’s got the right name.”
At present, the Loves only other horse is Damon’s Mound’s three-year-old full sister, Sun Kiss. She was winless in five starts for Mott and was retired at the end of 2025 to become a broodmare at Ocala Stud so there will be more homebreds joining the family.
But Damon’s Mound is the king of the hill.
“This horse is a miracle. I named him after a little town down here called Damon, Texas where my grandparents were. There’s a salt dome there and it used to be called be Damon’s Mound. My dad was a fast pitch softball pitcher in Houston in the 1950s. We’re big baseball people down here, too, so it kind of goes with the mound. His name has got my dad, and my grandparents on my mother’s side, and the family all tied together,” Love said.
Those family ties are wound even tighter now.
“At about the same time this horse came along, about five years ago, my wife got a (life-saving and waited for) double lung transplant. Then you think, ‘Wow, God is there. He’s right there with you.’ But it wasn’t until this amazing horse came around that Michele got her double transplant,” said Love. “That’s an even bigger miracle.”
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