First Dude

    The list of trainers who would rather their horses didn’t draw the No. 1 post is quite long, but Carol Cedeno proved last evening their fears are unfounded if their riders know how to make the best of it.      Aboard the 3-year-old gelding Neigh Dude in an $18,000 starter optional claimer …

    First Dude reached the half-million level in 2022 progeny earnings yesterday with the victory of First Homestead at Mahoning Valley. The 5-year-old gelding bred by Peggy Dellheim and Pete Mattson earned a check for $15,540 in the $28,900 allowance test and raised his total to $90,345, while his sire’s earnings hit $500,184.   …

    First Dude enjoyed another superior Saturday as he approaches $500,000 in progeny earnings for the year. Valiant Virtue scored his second runaway victory in a row at Tampa Bay Downs, Due North was equally impressive at Mahoning Valley, and Lady Milagro passed the $100,000 mark in earnings with a fourth-place finish in the …

    Icy Dude passed the $100,000 mark in earnings at Parx Racing yesterday, benefitting from a heady, rail-skimming ride by Jeremy Laprida, and becoming First Dude’s 14th winner of 2022.     Laprida took Icy Dude away in mid-pack on the inside and parked him there down the backstretch. He then picked off horses one …

    Like so many of First Dude’s runners before him whose speed figures have improved with age, Here Comes Bullet has fired his best shot at the age of five in his 17th start. The gelding bred by Thomas L. Croley posted an excellent 90 at Gulfstream Park yesterday, highest Equibase ‘E’ number of …

    Speedy Dudette became First Dude’s biggest money-winner of the young season with a heart-stopping victory in a $54,000 allowance race at Fair Grounds yesterday. The 4-year-old filly bred in Louisiana by Bill Langford and Karen Keen has now won three in a row, and the $32,400 winner’s check raised her 2022 bank account …

    After the new Tapeta surface was installed at Gulfstream Park for the current meeting, the winner of the first race at each distance established a track record, however temporary. Ever since, the record at every distance has been lowered several times.    In yesterday’s seventh race, Famous Gent became the latest to own …

    First Dude’s red-hot February push continued yesterday with convincing scores by What’s Up Dude at Turfway Park and Neigh Dude at Laurel, giving Dude 11 winners since Jan. 1, while the amazing Sunset Paula Jo extended her unbelievable streak in Puerto Rico to seven victories in a row and nine of her last …

    Coming off a third-place finish in the Ruthless Stakes in her previous start, Lady Milagro was sent off as the 2-1 favorite yesterday in a $55,000 starter optional claimer at Aqueduct. Based on the way the 3-year-old First Dude filly handled the field, 1/2 would have been a more logical price.  With Eric …