Add the name of T J’s First to the long list of runners who began their careers in the dark and suddenly, one day, the light bulb switched on.

    The 4-year-old Louisiana-bred daughter of First Dude didn’t race at two or three, and when she made her debut earlier this season, her first four races resulted in finishes of 8-7-5-7. At Louisiana Downs on June 7 the light flickered on, and T J’s First finished second by a neck at odds of 20-1 with Pedro Cotto Jr. in the saddle. 

    Just 14 days later, the filly bred by Vanessa Camperlengo was entered on the turf for the first time and the light was brighter – she responded with an eye-catching, maiden-breaking victory. Cotto had her off in mid-pack racing ‘about’ a mile, and T J’s First sat comfortably on the inside, about eight lengths behind the pace-setters down the backstretch. She began cutting into the lead on the turn and entered the stretch still on the inside, then surged between horses and ran past the two leaders to win going away by three-quarters of a length.

    T J’s First, a $2,000 yearling at an Equine Sales of Louisiana auction in 2019, earned a check for $7,500 and gave First Dude winner No. 30 for 2022. She’s a full sister to First Dude runners Wilshire Dude ($103,058), and Wilshire Diamond ($30,975), and a half-sister to Wilshire Star ($128,289) and Wilshire Heir ($38,630), all four bred by Donald Dizney.