EPAULETTE has just completed his fourth season where he covered for a fee of €7,000. He has been at Kildangan Stud for three of those years, with one spent at Dalham Hall in Newmarket. This is always considered a ‘difficult’ year in the life of a stallion as breeders anxiously await the outcome of the first crop runners. On Wednesday, Richard Hannon sent out Regimented to win at the first time of asking, and thus become the fifth individual winner for his Commands (Danehill) sire.

Epaulette is a three-parts brother to Helmet (Exceed And Excel) who won one more race than his year younger brother. One thing that Epaulette did in his career that Helmet failed to do was land the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes over seven furlongs at three, and in record time to boot, the same season in which he won the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 and was runner-up to Black Caviar in the six-furlong Group 1 TJ Smith Handicap.