Under gloomy skies ☁️ and on officially soft ground (3.6), the 2025 edition of the Prix Jean Prat played out like a blockbuster 🎬: in only seven public outings, Woodshauna claimed his first Group 1 🏆, stopping the clock at 1′24″46 ⏱️. Still far from Too Darn Hot’s record (1′21″29) set in 2019 on an ultra-fast track, yet the comparison makes the feat even more impressive 💥: under conditions that usually dampen the energy of sprinter-milers, F.H. Graffard’s trainee burst from deep within the pack to deliver a masterclass in turn-of-foot 💨. This new-look “Jean Prat” confirms a star is born… and he intends to redraw the summer racing map 🌞.
Acces to France Galop tracking report here 📈
The race breakdown, by the numbers 🕒
The figures confirm what our eyes 👀 barely had time to register: the rocket 🚀 ridden by Christophe Soumillon—who always seems to have a metronome in his head and tactical genius 🧭—simply destroyed the decisive part of the race.
In short: starting dead last 🚩 and still at the rear at the 1200 m marker, WOODSHAUNA was nearly one full second behind the leaders in the final 1000 meters. He clawed back twenty-eight hundredths between 800 and 600 m, then twenty-six hundredths from 600 to 400 m, and another quarter of a second from 400 to 200 m, before unleashing an incredible 11″03 over the 400–200 m stretch: a top-class split 🔥. Every single section of his last 800 m was faster than any of his rivals.
An exceptional kick ⚡
66.9 km/h top speed 🏎️. The result? When WOODSHAUNA hit the gas, no one could match him. MARANOA CHARLIE, a brave front-runner 💪, gave it everything (34″75 over the final 600 m), but his 11″80 finish wasn’t enough to hold off the monster WOODSHAUNA: four hundredths, a mere breath 💨, but the result stands ⚖️.
📊 Complete data set available here ⏱️
🌟 WOODSHAUNA | 💨 Top speed: 66.96 km/h | ⏱️ Duration: 0.40 s | 📍 Position: 290.33 m
🐎 MARANOA CHARLIE | 💨 Top speed: 64.58 km/h | ⏳ Duration: 0.30 s | 📏 Position: 301.77 m
Why did it work? ✅
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Moderate early pace – 54.5 km/h over the first 400 m: enough to keep the backmarkers fresh 🐎
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Clear trajectory – Christophe Soumillon simply tucked in at the back while staying in touch 🧘
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Key 400–200 m section – THE zone where the Jean Prat is won or lost; WOODSHAUNA took a quarter of a second off everyone 🥇
📊 Complete data set available here ⏱️
What’s next? 🚀
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Maurice de Gheest (1,300 m): same track 🏟️, distance perfectly suited to his final “kick”, fast pace guaranteed 🏁
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Foret (1,400 m, Longchamp): if Parisian autumn 🍂 softens the ground, the scenario could repeat; grinding milers beware ⚔️
The killer stats 💀📈
To win this Jean Prat:
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WOODSHAUNA ran the final 600 m in 34″07
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He overcame a distance handicap of 16.81 m over the final 1200 m to win by 0.04 seconds 🔥🎯
