Port Louis chasing morale-boosting maiden victory at Sandown on Wednesday

Port Louis drops from Group company to a midweek maiden at Sandown in search of his first win and to gain some confidence before an autumn campaign.

Port Louis will look to shake his maiden tag at Sandown on Wednesday.

Port Louis has lined up in Group contests five times in his nine-start career but gets a golden opportunity to shake an unwanted tag on Wednesday.

The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained son of Maurice went down by a whisker two starts back in the Listed Springtime Stakes but drops all the way back to maiden grade at Sandown on Wednesday.

BEND THE KNEE is SW116 for Snitzel winning the Springtime Stakes @FlemingtonVRC

Dam SW Kneeling.

Same EDL cross as Gr1 Invader, Sword Of State, Summer Passage.@JohnOSheaRacing@[e-mail]/Zgqlfm55YO

— Pedigree Update (@pedigreeupdate) November 6, 2021

“He’s rated 75 so there’s not a lot of races for him at the moment and he’s still a maiden so hopefully we can knock that off tomorrow,” co-trainer David Eustace said.

Bookies have kept the colt safe in betting, rating Port Louis as the $1.30 favourite for the 1400m contest with the lightly raced Oughton the only other runner in single figures.

With bigger fish to fry in next year’s autumn carnival, Eustace said a confidence-boosting win should go a long way for Port Louis to show his full potential.

“There’s good prizemoney being a $50,000 maiden and it’s no foregone conclusion but hopefully he can shake his maiden tag,” Eustace said.

“Hopefully he’ll gain a bit of confidence from that and we will manage him through to the autumn.

“He doesn’t work himself too hard so he’ll probably have a little freshen up after tomorrow.”

Debutant Stakes winner Tanker races at Wyong on Wednesday.

Along with Port Louis, the training partnership hold a strong hand at Sandown with progressive four-year-old Pal D’oro on an upward spiral.

“He was really impressive first-up and he’s been good since then,” Eustace said.

“Hopefully we can just build his confidence and go through the grades.”

Meanwhile, Listed winner Tanker will represent the stable at Wyong in the Magic Millions race for three and four-year-olds.

“The distance is probably a fraction shorter than what he would like but he’s racing consistently and is in good form,” Eustace said.

“It’s not a strong race for the prizemoney ($100,000) available so I expect him to be in the finish.”

Bookmakers rate Tanker as a $7 chance in betting.

Originally published as Port Louis chasing morale-boosting maiden victory at Sandown on Wednesday