By Tom Frary
Springing a 35-1 shock in Sunday's G1 Haras d'Etreham Prix Jean Prat at Deauville, Alain Jathiere's TDN Rising Star Puchkine (Fr) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}–Vadyska {Ire}, by So You Think {NZ}) led his peers a merry dance with everything falling perfectly into place up the seven-furlong straight. Tacked on to the tail of the Juddmonte pacemaker Zandy (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) from the outset by Ioritz Mendizabal, the homebred was allowed rope by the remainder who sat and waited but two out the damage was already done.
Left in front there, the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained colt whose last piece of form was a fourth in ParisLongchamp's G3 Prix Paul de Moussac kept rolling to come home 2 1/2 lengths ahead of fellow TDN Rising Stars Havana Cigar (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) and Beauvatier (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) who were separated by a nose. “With this horse you must not fight him–he must be in a good rhythm and that happened today,” Jathiere explained. “Halfway, I was convinced he had it won.”
Unbeaten in three starts at two at La Teste, Toulouse and Pau, Puchkine earned his TDN Rising Star tag when reappearing in the Prix Torrestrella mile conditions event back at Toulouse in March before being turned over at odds-on in the same track's Listed Prix Aymeri de Mauleon the following month. Sent to the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains regardless of that upset, he could fare no better than ninth beaten less than five lengths in that ParisLongchamp Classic before running too freely dropping back to this trip in the Moussac.
Where Puchkine made the difference here was in his first two furlongs, where he took lengths out of the main contenders, and in the final furlong where his 11.98 was the second-fastest even allowing for his exertions earlier in the race. Only him and his stablemate runner-up dipped under 12 seconds for the last sectional, making this a performance of genuine merit with no hint of fluke.
Jean Bernard Roth was on hand to represent Rouget and he said, “To finish first and second is the icing on the cake. With Puchkine, we now understand that he needs a lot of rhythm in his races so that he can settle. It was a strong-run race and we have been lucky enough to track the leader, so he could quicken as we hoped he would. Havana Cigar didn't have the best possible trip, but both have improved since the start of the season and both have run like genuine group 1 horses.”
There is a sense that one day things will fall right for Beauvatier in his quest for a top-level success and trainer Yann Barberot was encouraged by the latest step forward. “He has run a really good race after his break following his bad run in the Poulains and we are now fully reassured that he has lost none of his quality,” he said. “I'm not sure I will run him over a mile again and the [G1] Maurice de Gheest could be an option.”
Puchkine lands the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat at @fgdeauville for Ioritz Mendizabal and Jean-Claude Rouget! pic.twitter.com/GUYUNj0Ttq
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) July 7, 2024
Pedigree Notes
Puchkine, who is the fifth TDN Rising Star for Starspangledbanner and his first group 1 winner in that bracket, is out of an unraced half-sister to the Listed Diana-Trial winner Romina Power (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}). She is a daughter of Rockatella (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), who was a listed winner placed three times in pattern races including the G3 Prix de Lieurey at this venue. Descended from Meon Valley's legendary foundation mare Reprocolor (GB) (Jimmy Reppin {GB}), he is connected to a host of past luminaries and also last year's G3 Hoppings Stakes winner and G1 Nassau Stakes runner-up Zeyaadah (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}). The dam's previous black-type performer was the filly Slevka (Fr) (Shalaa {Ire}), who was third in the Listed Prix Amandine staged on this card. Her 2-year-old colt by Fas (Ire) is named Zvokokiev (Fr).
Sunday, Deauville, France
HARAS D'ETREHAM PRIX JEAN PRAT-G1, €400,000, Deauville, 7-7, 3yo, c/f, 7fT, 1:21.49, g/s.
1–PUCHKINE (FR), 128, c, 3, by Starspangledbanner (Aus)
1st Dam: Vadyska (Ire), by So You Think (NZ)
2nd Dam: Rockatella (Ire), by Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire)
3rd Dam: Patrimony (GB), by Cadeaux Genereux (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O/B-Alain Jathiere (FR); T-Jean-Claude Rouget; J-Ioritz Mendizabal. €228,560. Lifetime Record: 8-5-1-0, €301,060. *1/2 to Slevka (Fr) (Shalaa {Ire}), SP-Fr. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Havana Cigar (GB), 128, c, 3, Havana Grey (GB)–Speculating (Ire), by Xtension (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (21,000gns Wlg '21 TATFOA; 150,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-White Birch Farm; B-Josh Cameron (GB); T-Jean-Claude Rouget. €91,440.
3–Beauvatier (Fr), 128, c, 3, Lope De Vega (Ire)–Enchanting Skies (Ire), by Sea The Stars (Ire). (€160,000 Ylg '22 ARQAUG). O-Philippe Allaire & Haras d'Etreham; B-Ecurie des Monceaux, Qatar Bloodstock Ltd & Mme Barbara M Keller (FR); T-Yann Barberot. €45,720.
Margins: 2HF, NO, 3/4. Odds: 35.30, 7.20, 10.00.
Also Ran: Sajir (Ire), Kathmandu (Ire), Kikkuli (GB), Vespertilio (Fr), Devil's Point (Ire), Zandy (Ire), Monteille (GB), Iberian (Ire), Romantic Style (Ire). Video, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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