Like father, like daughter: Melody Belle aims to emulate Commands
Champion New Zealand mare set for her return in the Missile Stakes today, a race won by her sire as a juvenile more than two decades ago
On a chilly winter’s day at Rosehill in 1999, the final day of the 1998-99 Australian racing season, two-year-old Commands (Danehill) returned for his fourth start in the Missile Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), the traditional starting point of Sydney spring racing.
The John Hawkes-trained Commands, sporting the famous cerise silks of the Ingham brothers that were so prolific in Sydney during that period, was among the favourites in the ten-horse line-up. At the head of the market was another two-year-old, Breeders’ Plate (Listed, 1000m) winner High Rolling (Snippets), while Group 1 winner Masked Party (Marscay) also had his supporters.
The regally bred Commands, a brother to five-time Group 1 winner Danewin, was by champion sire Danehill (Danzig) out of the unraced Cotehele House (My Swanee), a daughter of the great matriarch Eight Carat (Pieces Of Eight), making her a half-sister to Octagonal (Zabeel). To this day, it remains as attractive a pedigree as there is.
Ridden by Larry Cassidy, Commands settled midfield as the June Stakes (Listed, 1100m) winner Hot As Hell (County) set decent fractions in front. Upon straightening, he loomed up to win but he was joined and headed by the John Size-trained Padstow (Francis Bacon), with the wayward Padstow going on to win by a narrow margin.
However, a protest was lodged and was quickly upheld, meaning that Commands is in the history books as the 1999 winner of the Missile Stakes.
It remains the last victory by a two-year-old at weight-for-age against the older horses in stakes company. A number have tried since, most recently Away Game (Snitzel) in the Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), but none have been successful.
Twenty-one years later, Commands’ daughter Melody Belle will aim to follow in her father’s footsteps by taking out today’s Missile Stakes, for which she was the $3.60 favourite with the TAB last night. Now a Group 2 over 1200 metres, it still remains Sydney’s first step towards spring riches.
Melody Belle would not be the first horse sired by Commands to take the early season feature – Rain Affair was a two-time winner of the event in 2011 and 2013.
And for Melody Belle, it would not be the most prestigious win of her career, far from it – with ten Group 1 wins, a couple of Group 2 victories and a Karaka Million (RL, 1200m) to her name, it may struggle to crack the top 15.
However, it would be a most poignant throwback to her late sire, who died in July, 2014 of a heart attack. Melody Belle is from his last crop.
“Commands is a horse that is very dear to everyone, to everyone that has worked for Darley since that period when we became involved in 2008,” Darley’s long-term head of sales Alastair Pulford told ANZ Bloodstock News. “For him to get an absolute stand out like Melody Belle is a very fitting tribute to him because he was a great servant to the stud.
“Commands had to make his own success. He’s one of a current group that includes I Am Invincible, Not A Single Doubt and Written Tycoon that had to make it their own way, and he ended up being a very high class stallion.”
Pulford joined Darley in 2003 and was part of the team that was involved in one of the biggest shifts in the breeding industry in recent years, when they bought out all of the Ingham bloodstock assets, including Woodlands Stud. He reveals that it was Commands who was the main drawcard for Sheikh Mohammed’s operation to acquire the historic property.
“Actually he was the main reason behind the purchase of Woodlands,” Pulford recalled. “He started to show some promise as a stallion and through various conversations he was identified as a horse that could be very good for us to own. One thing led to another and it became apparent that the whole stud might be a good asset for Sheikh Mohammed, but Commands was the whole catalyst behind the Woodlands purchase.
“The fortunate unknown quantity at that stage was Lonhro who hadn’t had any runners at that stage with his first crop being early two-year-olds.
“Commands and then Lonhro acted as the catalyst for Darley to become what it is in Australia today. It was all around the stallions at the time, and then acquiring those wonderful bloodlines and training facilities as well was wonderful. Essentially, though, Commands was the start of the conversation.”
Melody Belle is one of two Group 1 winners from Commands’ final crop, with the other being this year’s Robert Sangster Stakes winner Bella Vella.
“Initially he was thought of as being a sire of colts only, being a better sire of them than the fillies, but as his career progressed and he probably had some better quality mares, that trend turned around, as it so often does,” Pulford said.
“In his last crop, of which Melody Belle is one, there’s also the Sangster Stakes winner Bella Vella, so two Group 1-winning fillies from his last crop. And Melody Belle is probably, certainly in terms of achievement, his best runner. It’s a real shame that he died when he did – he had a heart attack early – as even though he was going into his 18th year, there were probably a couple of good years left in him.
“He was a very fertile stallion. He covered large books, they were sound, durable and had great temperaments. I think that was certainly one of the great things about him as a stallion. For our own matings at Godolphin we used him all the time when there was a temperament issue with a mare. Commands was the number one choice.”
Trainer Jamie Richards said earlier this week that his main aim with Melody Belle will be the 100th Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) at Moonee Valley.
It was a race that Commands also contested mere weeks after his Missile Stakes victory, except things did not go to plan; he ran off the track approaching the 800 metres and, despite the urgings of Corey Brown, his race was done and dusted.
Instead, Richards will be hoping that he can emulate the winner of that year’s Cox Plate – and the last New Zealand mare to take victory in Australasia’s weight-for-age championship – Sunline (Desert Sun). However, with Victoria under stage four restrictions due to Covid-19, the prodigious trainer is waiting to see where the spring will take his stable star.
“We’d like to try to end up in the Cox Plate but we’ve just got to work out how we can get to Melbourne with staff and all of that,” Richards said. “The plan is to have those first couple of runs and maybe one more, then work out what we do.”
After today, Melody Belle will head next to the Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) before her spring path is determined further, with the George Main Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) another likely stepping stone before she reaches her major targets.
One of her hallmarks is her versatility, striking success in stakes races from 1200 metres to 2040 metres. That is a noteworthy trend among Commands’ progeny, with his 13 Group 1 winners ranging from Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) winner Undue to Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) conqueror Purple.
“It’s one of the great things about him and his sire line – it is often so versatile and is not one-dimensional,” Pulford said.
“He was a very good horse and the Missile Stakes was certainly his biggest win, but he did run third in the Caulfield Guineas behind Redoute’s Choice and Testa Rossa.
“He was one of an elite crop and so his feats on the racecourse were probably less respected than what he deserved as it wasn’t until later that we realised just how good that crop was.
“In a different year he might well have been the stand-out colt of his year and with all the benefits of the quality mares that a Group 1 winner gets when they do go to stud, but we are seeing just what he can produce with Melody Belle and it would be very satisfying to see her win the Cox Plate.”
Ironically, it may be Sheikh Mohammed’s trio who are best-placed to upset Melody Belle in today’s Missile Stakes. Flit (Medaglia d’Oro) and Savatiano (Street Cry) are close up in betting behind the champion Kiwi mare, while Cascadian (New Approach) will also return in the feature.
Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Flit tackles open-age company for just the second time, having finished second-last when stepping out in the All-Star Mile (1600m) at Caulfield in March. However, that day, she refused to settle under Damian Lane, opening up a big lead before weakening significantly.
“There will be a fair amount of attention on her to see how she graduates from a Group 1-winning three-year-old to an open company performer,” trainer James Cummings said. “She’s always had the look of a filly who will grow into a well-furnished older mare.
“She’s shown more boldness in her training this time in and she is more-than-capable of racing well fresh as she showed with a fleet-footed performance to win the Light Fingers Stakes first-up back in February.”
While the boys in blue will be attempting to bring down Commands’ daughter today, they are likely to benefit from the Commands sire line in the future with his sons Epaulette and Holler both on the Darley roster. Epaulette, who has had three crops to race, will stand for $22,000 (inc GST) this season at Kelvinside, while Holler, whose first crop have just turned two, is available at Northwood Park for $7,700 (inc GST).
“I think Epaulette and also Holler, who is yet to have runners, are really good chances,” Pulford continued. “They were both high class racehorses – speed horses – who can be expected to throw horses, particularly Epaulette, that can run over a bit further, very much like Commands does.
“My guess is that Epaulette will end up in a very similar place to his father and the hope is that Holler can do the same.”