A&C Racing and Roping’s son of CD Diamond earned $33,000 Nov. 16 in Abilene, Texas.
SJR Diamond Bond and Rhen Richard topped all 6-and-under head horses to win the Gold Buckle Futurities Fall 2024 event, worth $33,000 for the flashy palomino by CD Diamond.
SJR Diamond Bond, out of ARC Its Go Time by One Time Pepto, won the average by 10 full points with a 919.35 for $11,000, and he picked up another $19,000 for first in the Elite Stallion Incentive—of which $9,500 will go to Richard’s A&C Racing and Roping and $9,500 will go to CD Diamond’s owners at San Juan Ranches. The horse won another $9,000 in the Elite Breeder’s Incentive, of which $4,500 will go to Richard and $4,500 will go to San Juan Ranches, too.
“He’s just a flashy horse, and he freaking worked,” Richard, 35, of Roosevelt, Utah, said. “I thought he scored great, ran hard. He’s physical pulling, but I think it was going to take something really good to get around him. He is the kind of horse, when he does put a day together, he’s tough. I don’t really have one thing that I think made him stand out. I thought he was pretty solid everywhere.”
Richard and SJR Diamond Bond won the first two rounds outright and were second in the third round to lead the event from start to finish.
“When he puts his run together, it feels really good,” Richard, who’s qualified for six NFRs, said. “But I’ve just gotten accustomed to the feel that those horses that do have a lot of run, they don’t have to just give you everything in the tank where that horse, there’s times where I’m asking him for everything he has, and I think mentally for a young horse, that’s tough on him. Horses with more run, they can be easier to manage than this one because they don’t have to give everything they have every time.”
This was SJR Diamond Bond’s final futurity of his career, as he ages out in 2025. Richard took a step back from rodeoing in 2024, but the horse, with $70,590 in career earnigns according to QData, is so good, he’s not ruling out taking him on the road in the future.
“He has the capability to be a rodeo horse, but it’s hard to say,” Richard said. “I’ve got a couple guys that are interested in him, but just if it fits, you know what I mean? He’s one of them horses that, he’s a lot of horse, but he’s a good horse. So whether I keep him and try to really go— I’m not telling you that I’m not going to rodeo either, so I don’t know what I’m going to do with him. If somebody comes along and they have to have him, I’ll sell him. If not, I’m going to keep him and try to do him right.”
This was the first trek to Texas for a Gold Buckle event for A&C Racing and Roping, but it won’t be the last.
“When you put the work, these guys do into the payout and the cattle and the quality of the roping, it’s going to succeed,” Richard said.
