by Thomas Hedlund

Nicolas Bazire-trained Joumba de Guez (Carat Williams) entered Sunday’s (Feb. 23) $400,000 Prix de Paris more than a month after her big success in the $700,000 Prix de Cornulier and when the 4,150 meter race was summed up, Joumba de Guez had claimed another prestigious race in Paris.

Two laps at Vincennes is the ultimate test for most trotters and Joumba de Guez hit the lead with three kilometers to go. A little less than two miles remaining at that point and being in front of a field of strong, well-merited trotters as a mare is not the easiest task if one’s looking for the win.

But Jean-Michel Bazire kept a high pace in front and made it hard for the opponents, which meant that Joumba de Guez had everything under safe control all the way. The mile rate of 1:55.4 over 4,150 meters is a new world record for mares over the actual distance.

Replay here.

Title defender Hussard du Landret finished well as the runner up ahead of Fakir de Mahey.

Three starts in 2025 has resulted in three wins and $531,000 earned, so it’s fair to call Bazire stable’s mare the queen of Paris during the winter meeting.

The meeting in Paris ends Saturday (March 1) with two $240,000-races. The Prix de Selection, for 4-to-6-year-old trotters, includes some really nice horses. Prix d’Amérique contender Keep Going is one of them and he will probably be the favorite in the hands of Eric Raffin.

The 4-year-olds start with a 25 meter advantage which means that J- and K-horses will have to chase the 4-year-old L-trotters in front.

The $240,000 Prix des Centaures monté race has the same conditions as the Prix de Selection, where the 4-year-olds have a 25 meter advantage.

$240,000 PRIX DE SELECTION 2025

Horse — Driver

2,175 meters

1. Lewis River — David Thomain

2. London — Mathieu Mottier

3. Light My Fire — Franck Nivard

4. Lucky Jackson — Jean-Michel Bazire

5. Lotta Bourbon — Franck Ouvrie

6. Loulou de Mye — Romain Christian Larue

2,200 meters

7. Keep Your Dreams — Julien Dubois

8. Knockonwood — Paul-Philippe Ploquin

9. Khal’s Fella — Sebastien Ernault

10. Kiara de Vandel — Alexandre Abrivard

11. Jabalpur — Gabriele Gelormini

12. Kristal Josselyn — Benjamin Rochard

13. Ksar — Matthieu Abrivard

14. Keep Going — Eric Raffin