Three-year-old late bloomer First Dude is a 17-hand work of art. Photo by Sarah K. Andrew.
Michelangelo would have loved this horse. Sarah K. Andrew’s camera certainly did when she captured this breathtaking image of one of the favorites for Saturday’s 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes in New York. It looks like she moved him to a studio and illuminated his muscles with special lighting, but we know trainer Dale Romans wouldn’t go for that.
My guess is that First Dude will have all the $2 bets of the artists, photographers and horse conformation aficionados. His long, long legs might serve him well to carry him around that vast racetrack for a mile-and-a-half.
If looks can run, this horse is a sure thing.
Many thanks to Sarah K. Andrew (a.k.a. Rock and Racehorses) for seeing something in the details of this horse’s body and sharing it. She shot this photo a few days after the Preakness Stakes.