| Commendable | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Gone West |
| Grandsire | Mr. Prospector |
| Dam | Bought Twice |
| Damsire | In Reality |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1997 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Edward Kelly & Michael Kelly |
| Owner | Robert B. & Beverly J. Lewis |
| Trainer | D. Wayne Lukas |
| Record | 12: 2-1-1 |
| Earnings | $907,470[1] |
| Major wins | |
| American Classic Race wins: Belmont Stakes (2000) |
|
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
Commendable (foaled 1997 in Kentucky) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse, best known for his victory in the 2000 Belmont Stakes. In his racing career he ran twelve times and won two races. He is currently standing as a stallion in South Korea.
Contents |
Commendabe, a chestnut horse with a white blaze and four white feet was sired by Gone West out of the mare Bought Twice, a half sister of the successful racehorse and sire Fappiano. As a yearling he was consigned to the Keeneland July sales by the Taylor Made Agency where he was bought for $575,000 by Robert and Beverly Lewis.[2]
Prior to the Belmont Stakes, Commendable had earned $88,470 in seven races and his only win had been back in August 1999 when he won a Del Mar maiden race for two-year-olds on his racecourse debut in August. On his only other race of the year he finished fourth in the Del Mar Futurity a month later. Despite his modest achievements in 1999, he was identified as a potential contender for the Triple Crown races by his trainer D. Wayne Lukas.[3]
In 2000, Commendable failed to win in his four races leading up to the Triple Crown series, although he did manage fourth places in the San Felipe Stakes to Fusaichi Pegasus and the San Rafael Stakes to War Chant.[4] In the Kentucky Derby he finished seventeenth in a nineteen-horse field after which his handlers chose not to run him in the Preakness Stakes.[5]
On a sweltering[3] day at Belmont, Commendable was among the outsiders for the third leg of the Triple Crown, despite the absence of the leading three-year-olds Fusaichi Pegasus and Red Bullet and Lukas observed that he would need "a career best" to win.[6] Ridden by Pat Day, Commendable race prominently, took the lead half a mile from the finish and stayed on in the straight to hold the 9/5 favorite Aptitude by a length and a half.[7] The 67,000 crowd were reportedly stunned by the Commendable's win[8] which was achieved in a slow time of 2:31.2.
Following his Belmont win, Commendable finished fourth in the Dwyer Stakes[9] and then ran poorly to finish eighth of the nine starters in the Haskell Invitational Handicap. He later produced better efforts taking third in the Travers Stakes and second place finish behind Tiznow in the Super Derby.[10] Commendable did not race again and his retirement was announced in November.[11]
He was retired to stud duty at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, Kentucky where he remained until January 2005 when he was sold to the Korea Racing Association and exported to stand at a stud on Jeju Island,[12] South Korea.[13]
| Sire Gone West (USA) 1984 |
Mr. Prospector 1970 |
Raise A Native | Native Dancer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raise You | |||
| Gold Digger | Nashua | ||
| Sequence | |||
| Secrettame 1978 |
Secretariat | Bold Ruler | |
| Somethingroyal | |||
| Tamerett | Tim Tam | ||
| Mixed Marriage | |||
| Dam Bought Twice (USA) 1986 |
In Reality 1964 |
Intentionally | Intent |
| My Recipe | |||
| My Dear Girl | Rough ‘n Tumble | ||
| Itlis | |||
| Killaloe 1970 |
Dr. Fager | Rough ‘n Tumble | |
| Aspidistra | |||
| Grand Splendor | Correlation | ||
| Cequilla (Family: 16-a) |
|
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