Commander in Chief was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse, foaled in 1990 by Dancing Brave

Dancing Brave

Dancing Brave was a thoroughbred racehorse, foaled in 1983, a bay colt sired by Lyphard out of Navajo Princess. He was purchased as a yearling by Khalid Abdullah for US$200,000 in Kentucky....

 out of Slightly Dangerous. His damsire was the 1972 Epsom Derby

Epsom Derby

The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 winner Roberto

Roberto (horse)

Roberto was an American-bred Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who competed in Ireland and England.-Background:Roberto was bred by Galbreath at his Darby Dan Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. The son of the successful sire Hail To Reason out of the dam Bramalea, Roberto's grandsire was Turn-To, a...

, and his grandsire was Lyphard

Lyphard

Lyphard was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and an important sire. American bred in Pennsylvania, Lyphard was a son of Northern Dancer out of the mare Goofed. He was auctioned as a weanling at November's Keeneland Sales to Tim Rogers, a horseman from Ireland, who then put him up for sale at...

, a son of Northern Dancer

Northern Dancer

Northern Dancer was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and the most successful sire of the 20th Century. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association calls him "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history"....

.

Commander in Chief won the 1993 Epsom Derby

1993 Epsom Derby

The 1993 Epsom Derby was a horse race which took place at Epsom Downs on Wednesday June 2, 1993. It was the 214th running of the Derby, and it was won by Commander in Chief. The winner was ridden by Michael Kinane and trained by Henry Cecil...

 ridden by jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 Michael Kinane

Michael Kinane

Michael J. Kinane is a former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009....

, and beating the odds-on favorite Tenby. He was trained by Henry Cecil

Henry Cecil

Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil is a successful English horse racing trainer who has had many winners in the Epsom Derby, 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Oaks and the St. Leger Stakes....

. He was an ususual winner because he had not raced as a two-year-old. Furthermore, the Racing Post hadn't even included him in their list of horses for the 1993 Ten-to-Follow on the flat competition.

Commander in Chief was voted the 1993 Cartier Three-Year-Old European Champion Colt

Cartier Racing Award

The Cartier Racing Awards are awards in European horse racing, founded in 1991, and sponsored by Cartier jewelers. The award winners are decided by points earned in group races plus the votes cast by British racing journalists and readers of the Racing Post and Daily Telegraph newspapers.Eight...

.

In winning the Derby, he achieved something that had eluded his champion sire, Dancing Brave

Dancing Brave

Dancing Brave was a thoroughbred racehorse, foaled in 1983, a bay colt sired by Lyphard out of Navajo Princess. He was purchased as a yearling by Khalid Abdullah for US$200,000 in Kentucky....

.