First Dude has been retired after injuring a tendon during his Group 1 victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

The Bob Baffert trained colt defeated his stablemate Game On Dude while completing a hat-trick of victories at Hollywood Park.

First Dude (4c Stephen Got Even – Run Sarah Run by Smart Strike) had won an allowance race at Santa Anita and the G3 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs in the lead-up to the Gold Cup

First Dude was initially trained by Dale Romans and was G1 placed in the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, and Haskell Invitational last year.

A Florida homebred for Donald Dizney’s Double Diamond Farm, First Dude is a half brother to Fairplex Park stakes winner Via Veneto (Orientate).  Second dam Breech (Relaunch) was a stakes winner at Meadowlands.