Louis Quatorze (horse)

Louis Quatorze (foaled 1993) is an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He was sired by Sovereign Dancer, who in turn was a son of the great 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, Northern Dancer out of the mare, On To Royalty.

Early racing career

Trained by Nick Zito, he had four starts at age two in 1995 and won two races while placing second in two races. In the late summer Louis Quatorze come in second in the seven furlong Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga Race Course to Hennessy. Then in mid-September 1995 Louis Quatorze ran second in the seven furlong Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park to Maria's Mon. During the winter he was freshened for a long time and didn't comeback to the track until March. In March he won an allowance race at Gulfstream Park which gave his trainer Nick Zito enough confidence in him to take on stakes winners in a graded race. In April 1996, Louis Quatorze shipped to Keeneland Race Course and raced in the grade two $700,000 Blue Grass Stakes and placed second in a stellar field of seven. He was beaten only by eventual Eclipse Award champion Skip Away. All three of the top finishers in the Blue Grass moved on to Louisville on the first Saturday of May and competed in the Kentucky Derby. In the Derby itself Louis had a terrible break from the gate and got caught in traffic early running in twelfth position which took him out of his game early. He never recovered and finished 16th of nineteen that day.

Preakness Stakes

His trainer Nick Zito and his owners William J. Condren and Georgia E. Hofmann never lost faith in the colt and knew they had a legitimate excuse for his finish in the Derby so they decided to let him try and redeem himself in the second jewel of the triple crown. They entered Louis Quatorze in the "Run for the Black-Eyed Susans" on the third Saturday in May 1996 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. In the Preakness Stakes, Zito and jockey Pat Day had a specific plan to take Louis Quatorze to the lead and see if he could settle or slow the pace down the pace. If they could they would avoid all the traffic they ran into in the Derby and try and hang on as long as they could. At post time Louis Quatorze was ignored and went off as the fifth choice at 9-1 in the field of twelve stakes winners. He broke from gate six and things went according to plan as he shot straight to the lead and angled to the middle of the track away from the rail to avoid traffic. Louis was going very comfortable passing the stands and rounding the club house turn on the lead. Day thought the pace was moderate but in reality Louis was setting fast fractions of :23 flat and :46 flat for the first quarter and half. Near the end of the back stretch he was still leading Skip Away, Victory Speech and the rest of the field but the fractions were scorching in a record 1:09-4/5 for three quarters of a mile. At the top stretch second favorite and rival Skip Away made a rush at Louis closing from two lengths to one. But then Day asked Louis Quatorze for more and he somehow hit another gear pulling away from the rest of the field with every stride. He hit the wire in record time of 1:53-2/5 equalling a track record set by Tank's Prospect in 1985. Skip Away finished 3-1/4 lengths back in second some three lengths in front of Belmont winner Editor's Note and Derby runner-up Cavonnier.

Later racing career

Later that year, Louis Quatorze won the Jim Dandy Stakes, came in second in the Travers Stakes and ran third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. In November he placed second to Alphabet Soup in the Breeder's Cup Classic, defeating the great Cigar, who came in third.

Retirement

Louis Quatorze currently stands at stud at Murmur Farm in Darlington, Maryland. Among his offspring, he has sired graded stakes race winners Repent, Choctaw Nation, and Bushfire.

Pedigree

References

• Pedigree and Part. Stats
• TB Times Stallion Register Louis Quatorze
• Preakness Fastest Times
• Louis Quatorze at Murmur Farm