Paris — The 5-year-old French trotter Jushua Tree (Bold Eagle) is champion driver Jean-Michel Bazire’s bid for victory in the 2025 Prix d’Amérique.
On Saturday afternoon (Nov. 9), at Vincennes, Jushua Tree started for the first time in the French Winter Meeting in the traditional Prix Marcel Laurent, a 2,100-meter (1-5/16-mile) race open to 4- and 5-year-old horses. And it was a walk in the park for Jushua Tree (Bold Eagle) with Bazire in tow.
After sitting outside the leading Italian horse Dimitri Ferm and driver Matthieu Abrivard, Bazire sent his horse to the lead with 1,000 meters to go and easily won in 1:54.1 (mile rate) without being pressed.
In the final phase, Bazire eased up a bit to give Dimitri Ferm second place, while Jazzman Debailluel with Franck Nivard finished third.
The purse for the winner was €54,000.
Jushua Tree is now listed as a winner in the Prix Marcel Laurent, which in the last 15 years has also included horses that later won the Prix d’Amérique, such as Ready Cash, Face Time Bourbon, and Idao de Tillard.