by Karsten Bønsdorf, USTA Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Tsunami Diamant, a 3-year-old trotting colt sired by Gustav Diamant (he by S J’s Photo) won the Deutsches Traber Derby at Mariendorf in Berlin Sunday afternoon (Aug. 6) with Robin Bakker in the bike.

It was the third year in a row the Dutchmen, Robin Bakker and trainer Paul Hagoort, won the Derby.

But it was a close finish between Tsunami Diamant and Flying Fortuna, who had been in command from the start. You might call it a photo finish, but unfortunately, the photo finish camera didn’t work! It took more than 15 minutes before the judges declared Tsunami Diamant the winner.

This was just the fifth time Tsunami Diamant raced. In his debut, he finished second back in May, but the following four races he had won.

His dam is Glide Chip (she by Yankee Glide) who was sold in Harrisburg for $30,000 in 2010 in foal to Chocolatier to one of Germany’s biggest breeders, Max Schwartz, who runs the Diamanten Stud farm in Bayern.

The purse for the winner was $142,500.

In the Derby Consolation two legendary horsemen were dueling for the victory down the stretch. The 77-year-old Frenchman Jean Pierre Dubois was behind Classic Connection (sired by Love You), who was in command from the start, while 67-year-old Heinz Wewering was driving Mac Smily, who was parked out without cover the whole trip. Down the stretch it could have gone either way, but Classic Connection was the strongest and won by a neck.