Horse racing: Maison Louis wins Queensland Derby for O’Shea and Charlton

Maison Louis powers home to win the Queensland Derby. Photo / NZ Racing Desk

The training partnership of John O’Shea and Tom Charlton continues to flourish, as evidenced by a stable quinella in Saturday’s Group 1 Queensland Derby over 2400m as Maison Louis defeated King Of Thunder in a perfect result for the Sydney trainers.

Charlton joined O’Shea in partnership this season and Maison Louis becomes the duo’s third Group 1 winner for the term after elite-level wins from Schwartz and Linebacker.

Ridden by Ryan Maloney, Maison Louis came from three back on the fence and tracked Imperialist through to find clear air shortly after turning and was strong through the line.

King Of Thunder and Chase Your Dreams made good ground from the back to fill the minor placings as New Zealand-bred horses made up the trifecta.

O’Shea was quick to reference his penchant for sourcing horses from New Zealand and his fondness for budding young sire Super Seth, with Maison Louis becoming the stallion’s fourth Group 1 winner from his first two crops.

“Maison Louis has just been a progressive horse by a top young stallion in Super Seth. He’s one of the few horses that we have for Go Racing, who do a wonderful job,” O’Shea said.

“He’s just a tough, resilient little horse and he’s come from obscurity to win a Queensland Derby so we’re very excited.”

From his maiden win in late February, Maison Louis has now won four of his seven starts and has made steady progress throughout the campaign.

“I think the key is that he was able to cope with the workload. He’s just a great doer and a good, tough horse,” O’Shea said.

“He came off Pencarrow Stud in New Zealand and we always rush to New Zealand each year to participate in their sales, and we’ve been well-rewarded because the second horse comes out of one of their sales as well.”

Prominent syndicators Go Racing purchased Maison Louis for $250,000 from the Pencarrow Stud draft at Karaka 2023, while King Of Thunder was a $50,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale purchase by O’Shea from the draft of Ohukia Lodge.

Winning rider Ryan Maloney was grateful for the ride and said the gelding conserves his energy exceptionally well.

“It was a very dawdling run Derby, and when J-Mac sort of made his move at the half mile [on Belle Detelle], he increased the tempo, but not by a hell of a lot,” Maloney said.

“We were on the fence and everyone was starting to want to get to that better ground, and John [O’Shea] wanted me to get one off, but after the scratchings, we ended up drawing one. But that’s why I wanted to be three back the fence, so I had two options when I wanted to stake my claim.

“I was given the opportunity to come out and I ended up on the back of Imperialist and he was just too tough.

“When he got the gap, he pinned his ears back and was just tough as nails.”

By Waikato Stud’s Group 1-winning son of Dundeel, Super Seth, Maison Louis joins Linebacker, Feroce and La Dorada as Group 1 winners for the young sire, who has had seven stakes winners from 82 runners to date.

Maison Louis is from a famed Pencarrow Stud family and is out of the stakes-winning Makfi mare Cote D’Or, who won on eight occasions, including success in the Listed Matamata Cup (1600m).

Cote D’Or is a half-sister to the Group 2 Travis Stakes (2000m) winner and Group 1 International Stakes (2000m) runner-up Dolmabache, with multiple top-flight winners Ethereal and Darci Brahma featuring in the pedigree.

– NZ Racing Desk