Ace Impact (Cracksman(GB)) won the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1), Europe’s premier middle-distance test Sunday at ParisLongchamp, after taking on the front-runners in midstretch at such speed that no opponent could match strides.
A Jean-Claude Rouget trainee ridden by Cristian Demuro, favourite Ace Impact passed the post almost two lengths ahead of runner-up Westover. Onesto was third in the field of 15.
With Sunday’s victory, Ace Impact earned an automatic fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) Nov. 4 at Santa Anita via the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In.
Japanese competitor Through Seven Seas took fourth place in the Arc by a good length ahead of Doncaster’s St. Leger (G1) winner Continuous, both horses having been bred in Japan.
Earlier this season, Ace Impact, who was unraced at age two, captured the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (G1) (French Derby) in a record time. The three-year-old son of Cracksman covered the Arc’s 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) in 2:25.50 on turf rated as good to soft and is undefeated in six career starts.
Ace Impact was born in Ireland but raised in France by Mrs. Waltraut Spanner. Rouget bought the colt, who is out of the Anabaa Blue mare Absolutly Me, for €75,000 at the Deauville yearling sales, where he was consigned by Élise Drouet’s Domaine de l’Étang. He is campaigned by Serge Stempniak and the Chehboub family.
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Quotes:
Jean-Claude Rouget (trainer, Ace Impact, 1st):
“He wins as usual, with the same tactics. He’s an extraordinary horse, a crack horse. He leaves us speechless. He had a clear journey and his great action did the rest. It’s simply extraordinary. He is very sensitive.
“The big winner today is…Kamel Chehboub, who dared to buy half of Ace Impact, although he does not have a classic pedigree, as well as Horizon Doré. He has the two best three-year-old foals in France!”
Cristian Demuro (Ace Impact jockey, 1st):
“I got closer on the false straight. The horse was very relaxed and I know that when he is like that, as soon as you press the button, he flies away!”
Serge Stempniak (co-owner of Ace Impact, 1st):
“I was relatively calm and, like Ace Impact, I tensed up in the last ten minutes. And, from now on, I’m like the foal in the winner’s circle (laughs)! The tension has gone down but I don’t realize it, I think. I would need a few days, a bit like during the Jockey Club. He is truly impressive and I believe he is very intelligent. Yes, he tenses up but because he knows he has a job to do and he does it very well! Today the planets were aligned. I was just afraid that Cristian would get injured yesterday or that he wouldn’t stay in the saddle today!”
Kamel Chehboub (co-owner of Ace Impact, 1st):
“It’s done! I would like to thank Jean-Claude Rouget, who did an extraordinary job. I also say thank you to my family, who have been investing for 25 years and it is thanks to them that we are here today. I hope we gave everyone a lot of fun today. I am certain that he will have a great career as a stallion in France.”
-with files from France Galop
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