First Dude, a grade 1-winning homebred for Double Diamond Farm and Florida Stallion of the Year in 2017 and 2018, died Sept. 23 at the Ocala, Fla., farm owned by Donald Dizney. He was 19.
"He was an integral part of not only our own family but all of our Double Diamond Farm family; from Jesse Rodriguez, his groom and stallion manager, to our office staff and the many friends who visited him with peppermints," Dizney said. "We all have so many sweet memories of not only his 3-year-old campaign, but of his stallion career as well. We feel today we have lost more than a stallion."
Dizney and his wife, Irene, bred First Dude out of the stakes-placed winner Run Sarah Run, a daughter of Smart Strike they claimed in June 2004. The son of Stephen Got Even was her second foal and became her second stakes winner.
With trainer Dale Romans, First Dude was consistently among the best of his sophomore class with runner-up finishes in the 2010 Preakness Stakes (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G2) and thirds in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1).
Transferred to Bob Baffert in early 2011, he grabbed the brass ring at 4 when he defeated future multiple grade 1 winner Game On Dude in the Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap (G1) at Hollywood Park and also won the Alysheba Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs. He was retired with a 4-5-4 record from 17 starts and earned $1,442,140.
First Dude entered stud in 2012 and, in 2015, was a top five freshman sire for North America and the leading freshman sire in Florida. He kept his momentum as a second-crop sire, ranking fourth in the North American standings for his class by progeny earnings and siring eight black-type performers. He was Florida's leading second-crop sire as well.
From 14 crops, he sired 302 winners that included 16 black-type stakes winners. His top performers included Shamrock Rose, who won the 2018 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) and was named champion female sprinter for the year. Other elite performers he sired were grade 2 winners Maryquitecontrary and Skye Diamonds, and grade 3 winners Mom's On Strike and Sticksstatelydude. His progeny have collectively earned nearly $30 million and earned $68,753 on average per starter.
First Dude topped the general Florida sire standings in 2018 with more than $4.9 million in progeny earnings and led the state's sire ranks by number of stakes winners (eight), number of black-type performers (10), and number of graded stakes winners (three). He would remain among the top three sires in the state from 2019-21 and again in 2023.
