After jarring up at her last start in October connections of 2012 Thousand Guineas winner Commanding Jewel have officially retired the mare from racing.
Super mare Commanding Jewel has been retired from racing. Photo: Race Horse Photos Australia.
The Leon & Troy Corstens-trained daughter of Commands, a three-quarter sister to elite mare Atlantic Jewel, was last seen running a distant 10th behind Trust In A Gust in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield on October 11.
Having failed to pull up well post-race, the dual Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m) winner at Flemington missed a Cox Plate bid.
The Toorak has now turned out to be her swansong race too with the five-year-old’s retirement confirmed today by Brad Spicer from Spicer Thoroughbreds who spoke to TVN.
“She jarred up after the Toorak so we decided to pull up stumps,” he said.
“We had an offer from Ireland then there was a counter offer from one of the owners and as a group we decided that was the best way to go.
“It worked out well for everyone.”
Commanding Jewel was a $205,000 buy from the 2011 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sales and bows out of racing having amassed $694,700 in prizemoney.
She remains only lightly raced too having had 11 career starts for five wins, a second and three third place finishes.
Her most notable performance was as a three-year-old in October 2012 when she flew home to easily defeat the Clarry Conners-trained Dear Demi by three lengths in that year’s $500,000 Group 1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m).
She spent the next 10 months on the sidelines however and, after her first Let’s Elope Stakes win in 2013, suffered another setback that saw her miss nearly a year of racing before her return this August.
Spicer ruled out her appearing on any stud books this season but that a future career in the breeding barn with Vinery Stud was in keeping with her new owner Greg Perry’s plans to keep her in Australia.
“Commanding Jewel is officially retired from racing & will enter the next phase of her career as a broodmare @Vinery Stud #supermare,” Spicer wrote on Twitter on Monday morning.
