BY AVALYN HUNTER
Established, reliable sires are the backbone of Florida’s leadership as a top regional producer of stakes winners. Double Diamond Farm’s First Dude—a pedigreed, talented racehorse and consistent sire of winners—fits the bill well.
A son of 2000 Donn Handicap (Grade 1)-winner Stephen Got Even, First Dude is a paternal grandson of 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy. The main conduit for the male line of the great Seattle Slew, A.P. Indy contributed a blend of miler speed and classic stamina to his breed. A.P. Indy led the general sire list twice, was champion broodmare sire twice, and was a notable sire of sires.
A half-brother to the stakes-winning Orientate filly Via Veneto, First Dude is out of stakes-placed Run Sarah Run, whose Grade 1-winning sire Smart Strike—the last major sire son of Mr. Prospector—lead the general sire list twice and has been an important broodmare sire. Run Sarah Run, in turn, is out of the stakes-winning Relaunch mare Breech, one of three stakes-winners produced from the winning Quadrangle mare Scatter Plan.
Physically, First Dude is what one would expect from the mating of a Seattle Slew-line stallion to a mare by Smart Strike – a big, strapping, masculine horse with plenty of bone and substance. He placed in five Grade 1 stakes as a 3-year-old, including two legs of the Triple Crown, so he had shown great early promise. Like his sire and broodmare sire, he needed until his 4-year-old year to especially come into his own, taking the 2011 Hollywood Gold Cup (G1).
As of Feb. 20, First Dude is the sire of 16 stakes winners, headed by 2018 champion female sprinter Shamrock Rose and graded stakes-winners Skye Diamond, Mom’s on Strike and Sticksstatelydude. His most recent star is Maryquitecontrary, winner of last year’s Inside Information (G2) at Gulfstream Park and graded stakes-placed twice thus far in 2024.
“First Dude was very competitive as a racehorse and had speed that he could carry long,” Double Diamond’s general manager Roger Brand said. “He was a really sound horse and he’s smart and easy to handle. And he stamps his foals with those traits. Hardly any of them have soundness issues and he usually passes on a nice head and good substance as well as a good mind. If you bring him a lightly made mare, he’ll put some bone and muscle into the foal as well. He’s been very good to us.”
