Louis Quatorze (horse)

Louis Quatorze (foaled 1993) is an American thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the 1996 Preakness Stakes. He was sired by Sovereign Dancer, who in turn was a son of 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 the other two starts. In the late summer, Louis Quatorze came in second in the seven-furlong Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga Race Course to Hennessy. In mid-September 1995, he finished 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 come back to the track until March.

At age three, Louis Quatorze won an allowance race at Gulfstream Park in March, giving 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, where he placed second in a 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 Quatorze broke badly and got caught in traffic early, running in twelfth position. He finished sixteenth of nineteen.

Preakness Stakes

Zito and his owners, William J. Condren and Georgia E. Hofmann, believed there was a legitimate reason for Louis Quatorze's loss in the Derby, so they entered him in the Preakness Stakes on the third Saturday in May 1996 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. In the race, 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. At post time, Louis Quatorze went off as the fifth choice at 9–1 in the field of twelve stakes winners. He broke from gate six and shot straight to the lead and angled to the middle of the track away from the rail to avoid traffic. Day thought the pace was moderate, but in reality the horse was setting fast fractions of :23 flat and :46 flat for the first quarter and half. Near the end of the back stretch, he led Skip Away, Victory Speech and the rest of the field in a record 1:09-4/5 for three quarters of a mile. At the top of the stretch, second favorite Skip Away made a run at Louis Quatorze, closing to within a length. Louis Quatorze pulled away to win in the time of 1:53-2/5, equalling what was then considered the race record set by Tank's Prospect in 1985. The track record of 1:52-2/5 belongs to Farma Way, while the race record was retrospectively recognised as 1:53 by Secretariat by a panel set up by the Maryland Racing Commission. The panel was convened after lobbying by Secretariat's owner, Peggy Chenery, who paid companies to review tapes of the race.^[1] Skip Away finished 3 1/4 lengths back in second, 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 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

• TB Times Stallion Register Louis Quatorze
• Preakness Fastest Times
• Louis Quatorze at Murmur Farm