Frenchman says merci to Maher family

By Jordan Gerrans

Frenchman Damien Boutet has landed on his feet at the Gold Coast with the backing of the powerful Maher family within the racing industry.

In his second stint riding in the Sunshine State, Boutet rode eventual Magic Millions champion Unit Five in most of his trackwork leading into the showpiece event.

And, while much of his work for the Maher clan has been behind the scenes, the 28-year-old burst back into the public spotlight himself on Friday evening under lights at the Gold Coast.

Boutet piloted the Declan Maher-prepared Ancient Scent to victory by more than two lengths at the twilight meeting.

After initially being based in South East Queensland in 2021, Boutet eventually made his way to Rockhampton before he had a stint living and working in Western Australia.

Following Declan Maher’s decision to set up shop on the Gold Coast, the French native has linked up with the Victorian trainer and he says it has been a dream move.

“Declan was looking for a rider in the morning, he got in contact with me as we have some mutual friends and I just started to ride for him in November,” Boutet said.

“We are at the start, building the stable and we have had some great results with Declan, I think he has about 20 in work now.

“We are looking after a few horses for Ciaron, as well. So, everything went good. It is better for me in Queensland; I am really happy to be back on the Gold Coast.”

While Boutet rode at city tracks such as Belmont and Ascot in Western Australia during his six-month stint, it was a largely fruitless experience as he did not ride a winner in the back end of 2025.

The triumph aboard Ancient Scent was his first in his last 50 rides.

In the Maiden Plate over 1100 metres on Friday evening, Boutet put Ancient Scent into the race as they turned for home and the five-year-old mare put away the field smartly in the concluding stages.

It was the daughter of Deep Field’s first victory in five career attempts.

She was previously prepared by fellow Gold Coast conditioner Adam Campton and was having her third run under the banner of Declan Maher’s racing team.

“She is a filly that is not easy to ride,” Boutet said.

“She has come from a long way back because she broke her pelvis like a year ago. Like every morning, she just improved and improved, she's getting better.

“I got the winner on there on Friday, which went pretty well. I'm really happy at the moment.

“On the Gold Coast, I think it's pretty good to race on a night meeting and I really enjoyed it. I have put in a lot of work for the last few months and just to get the win on Friday, I was really happy.

“And, even for Declan, as well, it was my first ride for Declan. So, everyone was happy.”

Before Boutet’s maiden ride for Declan on Friday evening, he took a couple of rides for his champion trainer Ciaron in the weeks prior.

He also had plenty to do with Ciaron’s Magic Millions-winning quinella, as well.

Ciaron’s Unit Five and Tornado Valley were the first two past the post in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic earlier this month.

As Boutet had not enjoyed much success in the saddle through the latter stages of 2025, it was a thrill to partner high-level gallopers such as Unit Five and Tornado Valley in their preparations for the $3 million event.

“I was really happy to ride these kinds of horses in the morning,” he said.

“It's going pretty good actually. We had been doing all the prep every morning, all the gallops.

“We galloped them on the course proper on the Monday morning before the Magic Millions and I had a really good feeling on him, Unit Five, and he went good.”

The Frenchman was involved in one of the major postscripts from Unit Five’s Magic Millions triumph, as well.

Unit Five’s race day strapper Jordan White made headlines as he was front and centre in the big win while only being in the infancy of his tenure in the racing game.

White led in the $3 million Magic Millions champion just one month after strapping his first winner in a Ballina maiden.

White pointed to Unit Five’s trackwork rider Boutet who pushed for him to land the strapping role on the colt.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to him,” White said recently about Boutet.

“My first strap wouldn’t have been even two months ago so it’s pretty crazy to think about and I’m incredibly lucky.

“I am lucky for the opportunity that Ciaron gave me.”

Boutet was glad to see his mate get his moment in the sun.

“I just said to Declan that it would be nice to give him the opportunity to strap the horse,” he recalled.

“I was really happy to give him the opportunity to be able to strap a horse in this kind of race. 

"He definitely deserves it. It was a good story.”