Ace Impact lives up to the hype as favourite jumps out of the pack and charges to glory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

• Ace Impact burst past Westover in the closing stages to claim Arc glory
• He became the first French three-year-old victor since Rail Link in 2005 
• The three-year-old has won six races since making his debut in January 

Brilliance: it’s what you want to see more than anything in Paris from a horse or rider on the first Sunday of October.

It does not always work out that way but, on this occasion, a bumper crowd got brilliance in bundles. An Ace emerged from the pack with breathtaking speed to take Europe’s greatest race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and secure a place in history.

All week there had been an inkling that Ace Impact, the 5-2 favourite, would prove himself to be something out of the ordinary, and so positive were the vibes he gave Jean-Claude Rouget that the trainer wondered if everything was too good to be true. Thrillingly, it was not.

Here was a race in which Rouget and jockey Cristian Demuro never had a moment’s worry. Always perfectly positioned, as the 15 runners were taken along by one of the leading British hopes Hukum, when Demuro asked his partner to change gear, the response sent a crackle around the grandstand.

You could almost hear the whoosh as Ace Impact started to pass horses in a display that had seasoned observers mentioning him in the same breath as Dancing Brave, the 1986 hero. Ace Impact, trying the Arc’s mile-and-a-half distance for the first time, hit the winning line hard to dispel doubts on stamina.

Ace Impact emerged from the pack with breathtaking speed to take Europe’s greatest race

Behind him, Westover ran his heart out to take second with Onesto in third. Frankie Dettori’s final ride, Free Wind, was back in 13th and never factored.

Dettori’s presence could still be felt in the winner’s enclosure, as Demuro exuberantly followed his compatriot’s example with a flying dismount, but the talk on this occasion was about a three-year-old who, unconventionally, only made his debut on January 26. What progress he has made.

‘We expected to see that turn of foot and acceleration,’ said Rouget, who first won the Arc with Sottsass — also ridden by Demuro — in 2020. ‘I was very confident but you never know what might happen in a race. I asked myself, “Is this too good to be true”, but it was all true.

‘He really was in marvellous condition. He is mature now and he has produced the right result. He flew to the winning post.

‘This is a wonderful moment and we are overjoyed. It was so satisfying to see him do the same thing as he did in the Prix du Jockey Club.’

How long we get to see Ace Impact on a racecourse remains to be seen. Rouget has asked a lot of him in the last nine months and his owners know his value as a stallion — he became the first French three-year-old victor since Rail Link in 2005 — with a race record of six wins from six.

There will be more days ahead, though, for Westover, who — as jockey Rob Hornby had predicted would be the case in these pages on Saturday — gave absolutely everything. The run delighted his trainer Ralph Beckett, who is now plotting a trip to the Breeders’ Cup next month.

The 5-2 favourite burst past Westover in the closing stages to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

‘He’s just getting better and better,’ Beckett enthused.

Those sentiments apply to the two juvenile winners on the card, Richard Hannon’s Rosallion, who took the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, and Opera Singer, a filly who left Aidan O’Brien purring about what she might achieve in the future after winning the Prix Marcel Boussac.

‘Ryan (Moore, jockey) said she could be back here on this day next year,’ O’Brien explained. ‘She is really exciting and has grown an extra leg since her last run. She’ll stay a mile-and-a-half in time.

‘It would be nice to think we could run in the big one with her next year. Let’s see what happens.’

Source: Read Full Article