Horsename: | Commands |
Sire: | Danehill |
Grandsire: | Danzig |
Dam: | Cotehele House |
Damsire: | My Swanee |
Sex: | Stallion |
Foaled: | 28 September 1996 |
Country: | Australia |
Colour: | Bay |
Breeder: | Arrowfield Stud |
Owner: | Jack Ingham Bob Ingham Darley Stud |
Trainer: | John Hawkes |
Jockey: | Larry Cassidy Darren Gauci |
Record: | 15: 4–1–4 |
Earnings: | AU$417,231[1] |
Race: | Missile Stakes (1999) |
Commands (28 September 1996 – 12 July 2014) was an Australian stakes winning racehorse and stallion.
Bred by Arrowfield Stud in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Commands was a full brother to 5-time Group One winner Danewin.[2]
Commands won 4 races in his 15 start career with the highlight being the 1999 Missile Stakes at Rosehill as a two-year-old, beating the older horses at Weight for Age.[3]
He also ran placings in two Group One races, running third behind Redoute's Choice in the 1999 Caulfield Guineas and a second placing in The Galaxy.
Commands was retired to the Inghams' Woodlands Stud and in his first year in 2000 had a service fee of $10,000.
Darley Stud acquired ownership of Commands in 2008 following the purchase of the Inghams' breeding empire in Australia.
Commands retired from stallion duties in 2013. He is the sire of 14 time Group One winner Melody Belle. Overall he sired 13 individual Group One winners, and been Australia's "Leading Sire by Winners" on 3 consecutive occasions.[4]
Commands died suddenly on the 12 July 2014 at Darley's Kelvinside property in New South Wales aged 17.[5]
Commands' Group One winners:
c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding
Foaled | Name | Sex | Major wins |
2001 | Undue | g | Doomben 10,000, Oakleigh Plate |
2002 | Paratroopers | g | All Aged Stakes |
2004 | Russeting | f | Winter Stakes |
2005 | Purple | f | Vinery Stud Stakes, Queensland Oaks |
2007 | Erewhon | g | Spring Champion Stakes |
2007 | Skilled | c | Champagne Stakes |
2008 | Appearance | f | Myer Classic, Coolmore Classic, Queen of the Turf Stakes, Canterbury Stakes |
2009 | Commanding Jewel | f | The Thousand Guineas |
2009 | Epaulette | c | Golden Rose Stakes, Doomben 10,000 |
2012 | Holler | c | Canterbury Stakes |
2013 | Manuel | g | C F Orr Stakes |
2014 | Bella Vella | f | Robert Sangster Stakes |
2014 | Melody Belle | f | Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes, Tarzino Trophy (twice), Windsor Park Plate (three times), BCD Group Sprint, Haunui Farm Classic, New Zealand Stakes (twice), Livamol Spring Classic (twice), Empire Rose Stakes, Thorndon Mile |