The Group I Prix Jean Prat (1400m) at Deauville for three year-olds has been won in the past by the likes of Too Darn Hot, Pinatubo and Laws of Indices, who found his way to Australia, and this year’s winner Puchkine combines the blood of two stallions on the Coolmore Australia roster this spring.
Progressive Starspangledbanner colt Puchkine won his first four starts in succession, three of them last year as a juvenile and then his first run this year before moving up to Black Type company.
The Jean-Claude Roget trained colt was not beaten far in the Group I Poule d'Essai des Poulains and then was fourth in his most recent run at Group III level.
He pulled out a career best performance for Ioritz Mendizabal to win by two and a half lengths over his stablemate Havana Cigar taking his overall record to five wins from eight starts.
“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,” said stable representative Jean Bernard Roth.
A homebred for Alain Jathiere, Puchkine is a half-brother to stakes-placed Slevka and is the best of two winners from unraced So You Think mare Vadyska, a half-sister to stakes-winner Romina Power and daughter of stakes-winner Rockatella.
Puchkine is the 42nd stakes-winner for Starspangledbanner and is his eighth Group I winner, three of them coming this year with Puchkine joining the Hong Kong trained duo of California Spangle and Beauty Eternal.
He is also the sixth stakes-winner for So You Think as a broodmare sire and his second Group I winner following on from Golden Slipper and Champion 2YO winner Fireburn.
Starspangledbanner stands at a fee of $44,000 this spring and So You Think for $77,000.
While Puchkine is the first stakes-winner to combine the blood of the two sires, Starspangledbanner does have a great record with mares by High Chaparral, the sire of So You Think.
That nick has produced 19 winners from 23 starters, so 82.6% winner to runner and three SW’s including G1 winners California Spangle and The Wow Signal at 13% SW to runner.
