Dust Commander (February 8, 1967 – October 7, 1991) was an American Thoroughbred race horse.

Background

The name "Dust Commander" is derived from his dam, Dust Storm, and his sire, Bold Commander. A descendant of Nearco, Dust Commander was bred by the Pullen brothers. He was owned by Robert E. Lehmann and trained by Don Combs. His dam Dust Storm was descended from the American broodmare Laughing Queen (foaled 1929) who was also the female-line ancestor of Tom Fool.

Racing career

In a 3-year racing career, Dust Commander had 8 wins, 5 places and 4 shows in 42 starts. He finished his career with $215,012 in winnings. Some of the highlights of his career include winning as a 2-year-old the City of Miami Beach Handicap and as a 3-year-old the Blue Grass Stakes, a

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

prep race. On May 2, 1970, with

Mike Manganello Michael Manganello (born 1941 in Hartford, Connecticut) is a retired American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Riding career He got his start working for trainer Odie Clelland as a stable hand then began riding professionally in 1959 and earned ...

aboard, Dust Commander won the 96th running of the

in 2:03.4 ahead of My Dad George and High Echelon.

Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement. He rose to prominence with the publication of '' Hell's Angels'' (1967), a book for which he s ...

's seminal 1970 essay " The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" detailed the running of the Derby won by Dust Commander.

Stud record

Standing at stud, Dust Commander sired the 1975 Preakness Stakes winner, Master Derby. In 2006, the family of the late Robert E. Lehmann donated Dust Commander's Kentucky Derby Trophy to the Kentucky Derby Museum.

Pedigree

References

Dust Commander's offspring at the Triple Crown database by Kathleen Irwin and Joy Reeves
{{Kentucky Derby Winners 1967 racehorse births 1991 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Illinois Racehorses trained in the United States Kentucky Derby winners Thoroughbred family 3-j