Soumillon shines as Woodshauna strikes in Prix Jean Prat

A winner at Group Three level at Chantilly on his most recent start, the colt was subsequently purchased by American businessman John Stewart for £625,000 at the Goffs London Sale on the eve of Royal Ascot and immediately saw the form boosted when Chantilly runner-up Time For Sandals won the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

Christopher Head’s Maranoa Charlie, who was fourth at Chantilly, led the field along this time in his first outing in the colours of Yorkshire-based Bond Thoroughbreds, with Christophe Soumillon in no rush as he anchored Woodshauna in rear.

Maranoa Charlie refused to lie down as the race began to develop, with Charlie Appleby’s Shadow Of Light and Aidan O’Brien’s The Lion In Winter making their challenge on either side.

However, none were finishing as strongly as Woodshauna, who weaved his way to the front in time to lead home a French one-two, with Maranoa Charlie holding on for second, The Lion In Winter third and Shadow Of Light fourth, with half a length covering all of them. Cosmic Year dropped away tamely having looked a threat a furlong out.

Graffard said: “He’s a lovely horse and his form his strong. We decided to skip Ascot and I wanted the horse to be strong for this race and it worked out.

“He has a lot of speed and I think seven furlongs is the max for him. We’ll have to see what we do with him, whether we drop him back in distance or if we stick to seven, but it’s a big step up today. He’s a lovely horse with a great attitude and he’s improving physically.

“He was given a very good ride by Christophe and took the right lead all the time.”

He added: “Every time I have stepped him up in class he has responded well. I think if he was closer in the Djebel he would have been very dangerous and on that form and my belief I was not scared today.

“I’m so happy for John (Stewart) who is such a lovely, enthusiastic man for the industry and he has kept faith in me and let me do what I think is best for the horses and is rewarded today with a nice win.

“The Prix Maurice de Gheest could definitely be on the cards and I think he will be better dropped back in distance. I will see how he comes out of this but that could be a race we target.”

Meanwhile, the Bond Thoroughbreds team are relishing seeing Maranoa Charlie run on home soil at York after their recent purchase just failed to make all in the Group One feature.

“It’s a great run to be second in a Group One, amazing. It was obviously a big purchase and it looks like we made the right choice,” Charlie Bond of Bond Thoroughbreds told Sky Sports Racing.

“It’s our first horse in France and the last time we were here Move In Time won the Prix de l’Abbaye (in 2014), so we like coming to France.

“Christopher trains him and we’ll follow his guidance. I think he comes home to York for the City of York Stakes and we always said that this was a good stepping stone to that race, but if Christopher decides something else, we will follow his guidance, it’s down to him, we don’t like to interfere.”