Louis Quatorze (Sovereign Dancer–On to Royalty, by On to Glory), winner of the 1996 GI Preakness S. under a brilliant front-running ride from Pat Day, passed away late last week at Murmur Farm in Maryland at the age of 23.
Bred by Georgia Hofmann, the handsome bay was bought back on a bid of $225,000 at the 1994 Keeneland July sale and was ultimately raced in partnership by Hofmann with Bill Condren and Joe Cornacchia. Dual Grade I placed at two and was runner-up to Skip Away (Skip Trial) in the 1996 GII Blue Grass S., Louis Quatorze was a disappointing 16th behind Grindstone (Unbridled) in the Run for the Roses, but turned it around in a big way at Old Hilltop to best Skip Away and future GI Belmont S. hero Editor's Note (Forty Niner) by 3 1/2 lengths. He later added the GII Jim Dandy S., was second to Will's Way (Easy Goer) in the GI Travers S., filled third spot in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and missed by the narrowest margins to Alphabet Soup (Cozzene) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. After tacking on a pair of Grade III tallies in early 1997, Louis Quatorze was retired to Ashford Stud with seven wins from 18 starts and earnings of $2,054,434. He was trained throughout his career by Nick Zito.
Louis Quatorze was the sire of 36 black-type winners, including his first-crop son Repent, a four-time graded winner and, like his sire, runner-up in the Travers S. He was also the sire of a pair of Caribbean champions, including in Trinidad, the current home of Repent. Louis Quatorze, who was relocated to Murmur Farm in time for the 2004 breeding season, was also the sire of Choctaw Nation, two-time winner of the GII San Diego H. and third in the 2005 G1 Dubai World Cup.
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