Darley in Australia has regretfully announced that star stallion Commands sadly passed away in the early hours of this morning.
A talented racehorse for the Ingham family, Commands won the G3 Missile Stakes and was placed in the G1 Galaxy and G1 Caulfield Guineas. However it was as a sire that the son of Danehill excelled.
Commands is one of only two stallions in Australia to have sired 10 or more Stakes winners in each of the past four racing seasons, the other being his Caulfield Guineas conqueror Redoute’s Choice. Renowned for his ability to produce tough, durable racehorses, he set an Australian record of 155 individual winners in the 2010-11 racing season. He held the title of Leading Sire by Winners on 3 consecutive occasions.
The sire of nine G1 winners, Commands finished third behind Exceed And Excel and Fastnet Rock in the Sires’ championship last season thanks largely to his brilliant daughter Appearance who became the first mare in history to claim the G1 treble of the Myer Classic, Queen of the Turf and Coolmore Classic in the one season.
Managing Director of Darley in Australia, Henry Plumptre said, “Commands has had a profound influence on the success of our racing team since the Woodlands purchase in 2008. His consistency and ability to produce a Group 1 horse every year has underpinned the purchase and he will be sorely missed.
“Fortunately his legacy will live on through his progeny and we are lucky enough to have two of his G1-winning sons in Epaulette and Skilled standing on our roster this year, while four-time G1 winner Appearance has joined another of his multiple G1-winning daughters in Purple in the Darley broodmare band.”
Alastair Pulford, Darley’s Head of Sales in Australia said, “Commands was a champion who will be sadly missed by not only Darley but his legion of loyal supporters. He is one of the rare stallions that made it the hard way, rapidly ascending from a service fee of just $10,000 in his first season at stud to become one of the country’s elite stallions.
“Fittingly he looked to unearth another talented horse yesterday in Peter Moody’s debut winner Herstory, while he will be represented by three runners in Stakes races across Australia today.”
Pulford continued, “I would like to acknowledge our stud managers John Sunderland and Barley Ward-Thomas as well as Yev Kovalov, Stuart McKay and their teams who enabled Commands to enjoy such a long and successful career.”
Commands shuttled to both France and Japan throughout his career and is the sire of 1452 foals, with another 160 mares covered last season. 1025 of those foals have raced with 717 of them winning races and 63 of them being Stakes winners. His progeny have amassed close to $84 million in prizemoney to date.
