Adam Duggan was watching his eleven year old son Jack competing in a Central Coast basketball match when distracted by the shrill ringtone of his mobile phone. It was a number he didn’t recognise and with Jack figuring prominently on the court, his initial response was to review the call after the game. “I don’t like leaving a phone unanswered, and it’s a good thing I decided to take that call,” said Adam. “I was surprised when Mark Newnham was on the other end of the line. I knew him only casually and couldn’t imagine why he was calling me. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he asked me to take a couple of horses for one of his established clients TCR, a partnership between Hong Kong based Derek Tam and his Sydney associate Peter Coffey.”
In an era when Australian horses are going to Hong Kong by the plane-load, Tam and Coffey have been doing the exact opposite. They are constantly on the lookout for out of form Hong Kong horses, who might respond to a different training environment in Australia. Adam Duggan was reminded of Mark Newnham’s call as Diamond Diesel flashed past the post to win Saturday’s BM78 Luke Lucas Hcp, tenth and final race at Rosehill Gardens. Courtesy of a copybook Tom Sherry ride, the gelding took his record to six wins, six placings and $344,000 in prize money since that fateful phone call a little over two years ago.
Irish born Tom Sherry has Diamond Diesel fairly flying in the closing stages of the last at Rosehill - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Diamond Diesel was offered by Vinery Stud at the 2018 Inglis Classic Sale and purchased by Team Hawkes for $65,000. His sire Mossman, who died almost three years ago at age 26, had sired a string of notable performers including seven time Gr 1 winner Buffering. Word of Diamond Diesel’s talents was circulating long before he lined up for his first trial at Rosehill early in 2020. An impressive display sent agents into a frenzy, and within weeks Diamond Diesel was on a Hong Kong bound flight. Details remain sketchy about the next chapter in the gelding’s life.
It was eighteen months before Diamond Diesel stepped out for his first Hong Kong barrier trial. It was to be the first of six trials before he finally made it to the races, and that debut turned out to be a disaster. He finished 7th of 12 at Sha Tin and presented very lame after the race. A veterinary diagnosis confirmed a stress fracture to a shoulder. The prognosis wasn’t hopeless, but the gelding’s Hong Kong owner was happy to accept an offer from TCR Racing. Adam Duggan takes up the story.
Adam Duggan was given Diamond Diesel to train on the recommendation of TCR's previous trainer Mark Newnham - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
“Mark Newnham put me in touch with Peter Coffey who asked me to visit GT Park Spelling Farm at Kulnura where TCR had six horses on agistment,” said Adam. “Peter told me to take the pick of the half dozen and get them into work straight away. Diamond Diesel caught my eye instantly. He looked to be a lovely athletic horse with great presence, and I couldn’t get him on the float quickly enough. We also inspected another Hong Kong reject called Wonder Brahma, who hadn’t won in eighteen starts, but there was something about him. Diamond Diesel’s record is well documented, and I’m pleased to say Wonder Brahma quickly won races at Taree and Port Macquarie before being moved on to Queensland.”
Exactly one year after his one and only Hong Kong start, Diamond Diesel stepped out for an 1100m Gosford maiden on a Heavy 10 track. Two barrier trial placings saw him start second favourite in the eight horse field. Given time to find his feet by Dylan Gibbons, the long striding gelding chimed in at the 100m and put paid to his rivals in a twinkling.
Just over two weeks later he repeated the dose in a BM64 on the Beaumont track at Newcastle. His following three runs were all in Midway races, resulting in a strong third at Randwick and two unplaced efforts. Following a spell Diamond Diesel put together a sequence of top runs. He placed in five consecutive races before breaking through for his first Midway win over Super Bright and Lancaster Bomber at Randwick. Then followed a close fourth to Soami in a Rosehill Midway after which Adam opted for another well deserved break.
The gelding returned for a brief campaign just before Christmas reeling off two wins from as many starts. He won a BM 72 in good style at a Canterbury night meeting before disposing of a smart field in the Malcolm Cusick Stakes on his hometrack between Christmas and New Year. The ever patient Adam Duggan sent him for another break, with this year’s Provincial Championship Heats very much in mind. “I decided to trial him only once before the Gosford Qualifier which may account for his “freshness” on the day,” recalled the trainer. “He was very agitated in the tie up stalls and went too hard in the race. We pressed on to the Wyong Qualifier only to see him draw off the track and cover a heap of extra ground. The whole thing was a disaster, so we freshened him again and you saw the result on Saturday.”
Diamond Diesel (Dylan Gibbons) wins a BM72 at a Canterbury night meeting late last year - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Adam Duggan learned the basics of horse management from his mother’s cousin Neil Ward who’s been training horses on Gosford racecourse for well over four decades. Neil is best remembered for the sterling job he did with the talented Riverdale in the 1980’s. Expertly handled by the Gosford trainer, Riverdale won nine races and notched a massive thirty placings for $800,000 - a tidy sum forty years ago. The gelding’s Gr 1 double came in the spring of 1984 when he won the Epsom and the Ampol Stakes (now The Emirates) at Flemington. Riverdale also won a Grafton Cup, Gosford Gold Cup and a Warwick Stakes. Neil Ward was a deft hand with a horse and an excellent tutor for young Adam Duggan.
The aspiring young trainer also benefited from a stint with the astute Kerry Walker who trained from a Gosford base for a short time. Adam would later spend a happy fifteen years as stable foreman for successful trainer Kylie Gavenlock. “Not only could she get a racehorse ready to win, but she had a knack with problem horses,” said Adam. “People were regularly sending her horses to straighten out. The fact that I stayed fifteen years tells you I had a great working relationship with a very talented horse woman.”
Adam finally bit the bullet and set up his own training business in 2007, and for quite some time wondered if he’d pulled the right rein. “I only had a handful of average horses to begin with, and my first winner seemed a long way off,” recalled the trainer. “Suddenly a horse called Mr. Blue Sky appeared. I was thrilled when he won a maiden at Gosford with Andrew Gibbons in the saddle, but he came out of that race with a few niggling issues and had to be spelled. When he resumed seven months later, I set him a monster first up task in a three year old and upwards at Rosehill, but I was confident he wouldn’t be disgraced. Andrew Gibbons brought him from well back to swamp the opposition and I couldn’t have been more chuffed. From then on the horse had niggle after niggle. He won another three at Gosford before we had to call it quits. He was a special horse to me back then.
Frozen Rope was another special horse for the up and coming young trainer. He was raced by an enthusiastic group of mates who enjoyed the journey as the gelding posted eight wins including two at Rosehill Gardens. A bank roll of $236,000 helped defray the costs of several celebration parties.
One of two city wins for Frozen Rope (Josh Parr) - the horse to kick start Adam's training career - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Adam regards a filly called Fox as one of the most naturally gifted horses to come through his hands so far. The daughter of Snitzel ran second first up at Canterbury before winning two on the trot at Gosford. “She came back from a spell in great order and put together a few super runs before suffering a chronic ligament tear in one hock,” said Adam. “Sadly, she had to be retired. I have no doubt she was a stakes filly in the making. You need a big heart in this business.”
The Gosford trainer was equally shattered when Sir Elton developed a wind infirmity after winning three races from just ten starts a few seasons ago. “He won a Gosford maiden, a Cl 2 at Wyong and a BM70 at Randwick,” said Adam. “Hugh Bowman gave him a big wrap after that Randwick win and indicated he’d like to stick with him down the track. Same old story. As his breathing problem worsened his form tapered off, and he too had to be retired. There are times when you wonder what the heck you’re doing in the training game.”
Adam was extremely fond of a gutsy little mare called Kopite who retired with a record of 48 starts for nine wins, 11 placings and $205,000 in prize money. “We called her the black flash,” said Adam. “She stood only 15.1 hands but tried her heart out and always seemed to win a race when morale was low in the stable. Wish I had three or four like her at all times.”
Adam in his Gosford stable with "the mighty atom" Kopite.
Apart from Diamond Diesel a mare called Hawkwind is shaping up as an emerging stable favourite. The daughter of Rubick raced three times late last year for two Gosford seconds and a gutsy win in a $60,000 Super Maiden at Wyong. She led from the outset and refused to quit, despite being pestered by another runner most of the way. Hawkwind thrived during a recent spell and is only a few weeks away from a trial. Adam’s liking for the mare could stem from the fact that her dam is none other than former stable favourite Fox.
Adam rarely has more than fourteen horses in work, a direct result of his commitment to a “hands-on” involvement. It’s a number that enables him to be across even the slightest hiccup. He does however tend to keep one spare box at all times just in case TCR finds another Diamond Diesel in Hong Kong. Saturday’s Rosehill winner is one of only six TCR horses to find their way into the Duggan stables so far. The aforementioned Wonder Brahma was a two time winner, Border Control has won four races including one at Canterbury, A Silvery Warrior is a Gosford winner for the stable, Restrictions won races at Gosford and Wyong last year, while seven year old Peak is a current work in progress. The gelding came to Adam recently after two and a half years away from racing. A recent second in a Rosehill Midway was a good pointer to a near win.
Adam is a pretty contented horse trainer at the moment. He and partner Jessica are enjoying the joys of parenthood with thirteen year old Jack and his five year old brother Henry. With fourteen healthy horses in the barn spearheaded by the very talented Diamond Diesel, he has good reason to bound out of bed every morning. Not that Adam needs much prompting. There’s nothing else he’d rather be doing.
One of four wins for Border Control in the TCR colours - a BM68 at Gosford last December with Dylan Gibbons on board - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - Diamond Diesel makes it win No.6 in the last at Rosehill on Saturday defeating Silent Impact and Huesca - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)