Damon's Mound: A 'Miracle' for the Loves

Cliff Love has been around a lot of good horses in his 71 years, but none is as dear to his 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 Sprint Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs 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 6 furlongs in a blistering final time of 1:08.88 on the main track, which is just 0.21 seconds off the track record of 1.08.67 that had stood since April 7, 2012. Not bad for a 6-year-old horse making his 20th career start. "He's getting faster as he gets older. He's amazing," Love, who co-owns the multiple graded stakes winner with his wife of 46 years, Michele, said by phone from his domicile in 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 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 1/2 lengths in a maiden special weight July 2, 2022 at Churchill Downs. The Loves' phone immediately was ringing off the hook with generous offers to buy the colt, and then when he stepped all the way up into the Saratoga Special Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course next time out and won that race by 3 1/4 lengths, their phone was positively blowing up and the prices kept going up. "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, who also owned the Florida-bred Xtra Luck, a grade 3 winner. While with Lovell, Damon's Mound won the Gallant Bob Stakes (G2) at Parx Racing in September 2023 for a second straight stakes score after taking the Robert Hilton Memorial Stakes at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races one month earlier and Alvarado was aboard both times. After running fourth in the 2023 Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park, Damon's Mound was due for a break. But it would be two years before he got back into the starting gate and, when he did, he was saddled by a new trainer. On Jan.18, 2025, the then-5-year-old horse made a triumphant return when he took the Sunshine Sprint Stakes 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 Bold Ruler Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack, and the Sprint Stakes in his most recent effort. "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 Charles Town, and that was on my birthday, and as soon as I saw the way he rode him when he won that time, that was it," Love explained. "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." Alvarado and Mott enjoy a strong and very successful professional relationship. Among others they've posed with in winner's circle photos are 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty, 2023 Horse of the Year Cody's Wish, multiple grade 1 winner War Like Goddess, and 2023 champion 2-year-old filly Just F Y I. "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 Sprint, "He's a real warrior. It's all good for the warrior." Damon's Mound now has a record of 8-3-2 from 20 starts and $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 is waiting in the wings and his name is Grand Gesture. He ran fourth last year in his only start in a maiden claiming affair 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," Love said. "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 3-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," Love said. "That's an even bigger miracle."