the closing stages to win by a neck from Needle Gun. Epsom Derby Commander in Chief went into the 1993 Epsom Derby on 2 June as an unbeaten horse, but one who had never contested a Group Race. He was the youngest of the sixteen runners in a race which attracted a crowd of 106,000. In the build-up to the race he had been overshadowed by his stable companion Tenby. Owned like Commander in Chief by Khalid Abdullah and also unbeaten, Tenby's successes had come in more high-profile races such as the Grand Critérium and the Dante Stakes and he was made 4/5 favourite. He was the preferred ride of Pat Eddery, leaving the ride on Commander in Chief to Mick Kinane. Commander in Chief who started 15/2 second favourite, was held up in the early stages and turned into the straight in sixth place. He then made rapid progress to take the lead two furlongs out and quickly went clear. He was never in any danger and won very easily by three and a half lengths from the 150/1 outsiders Blue Judge and Blues Traveller. Tenby, who had been in second place at one point, weakened badly in the straight and finished tenth. After Epsom On 27 June Commander in Chief traveled to the Curragh for the Irish Derby. The build-up and betting suggested that the race would effectively be a match between Commander in Chief (4/7 favourite) and the French-trained Hernando, the winner of the Prix du Jockey Club who started at 9/4. The two colts duly came to the front two furlongs out and raced together throughout the closing stages. The English colt however, proved the superior horse on the day and won by three quarters of a length. After the race Eddery said that the winner was comparable to "all the good ones I've ridden", while Cecil described him as "a late maturing sort" for whom "the best is yet to come". On 24 July, Commander in Chief, now undefeated in five races, started 7/4 favourite for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, in which he took on older horses for the first time. His main rivals included the 1992 European Horse of the Year User Friendly, the five-year-old Opera House who had recently won the Eclipse Stakes and White Muzzle a three-year-old who had won his last five races including the