There are certain races in the French calendar that look ripe for British or Irish plunder, but the Prix Jean Prat (G1) confounded any such expectations as 35-1 shot Puchkine led home a 1-2-3-4 for the home team under an ice-cool ride from Ioritz Mendizabal.
With stablemate Havana Cigar edging out Beauvatier for second, it was a particular triumph for the Jean-Claude Rouget team.
Rouget has been absent from the racecourse since the middle of May as he battles health issues, and the outpouring of goodwill surrounding the return of Puchkine and Rouget’s longtime ally Mendizabal should leave the reigning French champion trainer in no doubt as to the affection in which he is held, nowhere more so than what has become his “home” track over the last six years.
From the start, Puchkine settled into the slipstream of Zandy, who Juddmonte had supplemented to act as a pacemaker for Frankel ‘s brother and market leader Kikkuli .
It was the perfect scenario for Alain Jathiere’s homebred son of Starspangledbanner who streaked clear inside the two-furlong marker and still had 2 1/2 lengths to spare at the line.
For more than 40 years, Jean-Bernard Roth has been a key link in the chain that has made Rouget and his team such a formidable winning machine.
Asked if he viewed this success in such difficult circumstances as a huge achievement for the whole team, the assistant trainer said: “Yes, but we came here with two colts who are improving fast and today I felt they both looked much better than before the Poulains.
“That goes for both Havana Cigar and Puchkine and you must remember that Christophe Soumillon didn’t have the ideal trip on Havana Cigar. Puchkine really benefited from his trip behind the pacemaker and he was really able to get into his own rhythm.
“We’ve tried to get him to stay 1,600 meters (about one mile) when really he loves to go at his own pace. He looked magnificent before the race and he’s a real speed horse.”
It is 20 years since Mendizabal and Rouget first combined to win at group 1 level and he remains a go-to jockey in the southwest where Puchkine built up a winning sequence away from the bright lights of Paris at the start of his career.
“Today was D-day because he had the right distance, the right ground and the right track, so I really didn’t want to miss the chance,” said Mendizabal.
“I just rode him for himself, ignoring that I was drawn next to the favorite. The idea was just to get him to relax and be happy in his own space because I have a lot of confidence in this horse, just as I have in Jean-Claude, who I must thank for letting me ride these horses the way I want to.”
Puchkine carries the chocolate silks and scarlet cap of Jathiere, who has had horses with Rouget from the very start and who was enjoying his first group 1 success on the flat.
“I’ve been waiting impatiently for that to happen and this morning, for some strange reason I felt today might be the day,” said Jathiere.
“Having won one group 1, I want to win another so we’ll be back here in a month (Aug. 4) for the Prix Maurice de Gheest. He’ll be up against the older horses, but he has so much speed”
