These include the 2023 G3 Prix Imprudence winner Showay (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) and the Listed winner and Group-placed Mixed Intention (Ire) (Elusive City), who has already produced the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club third Millebosc (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire})

“Ace Impact is proving very popular with French and international breeders, and we are very grateful for the support. His first book is very exciting,” said Haras de Beaumont manager Mathieu Alex.

Ace Impact's stud-mate Sealiway (Fr) has his first foals arriving this year having covered 165 mares last season.

Alex added, “The first foals by Sealiway are now on the ground and we couldn't be more pleased with them.”

Ace Impact's fellow first-season sire Bouttemont (Ire) has also made a fast start to his new stallion career at Rathbarry Stud. The first three mares covered by the son of Acclamation (GB) have been confirmed as pregnant in recent days and 20 other mares are holding service to him.

Rathbarry's Niamh Woods commented, “We are delighted with the start that Bouttemont has made to his stallion career. Every mare covered by him that has been scanned so far has turned up pregnant, so we couldn't ask for any more. He is proving to be very popular and we are particularly excited by the volume of stakes performing and stakes producing mares he is attracting. Our clients are finding him an easy stallion to like, as there is a big sense of déjà vu with him being a son of Acclamation that looks so similar to his sire and has his same easy temperament. He's going to get a great chance to succeed as a stallion.”

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Equinox's top rating of 135 – the highest ever awarded to a Japanese horse – was achieved in his four-length romp in the Japan Cup, his final appearance on a racecourse in which he had Liberty Island and her fellow Classic winners Stars On Earth (Jpn) and Do Deuce (Jpn) behind him. Such a strong first four meant that the 2023 running of the Japan Cup was awarded a rating of 126.75.

Trainers, jockeys, owners and breeders from across the racing world attended the ceremony at the Savoy to celebrate the 11th time that Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) had joined forces to celebrate the best in the sport. 

The Tetsuya Kimura-trained Equinox was the second Japanese horse to receive the accolade after Just A Way (Jpn) in 2014. Ridden throughout his career by Christophe Lemaire, he was unbeaten in 2023, with his other victories coming in the G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic, G1 Takarazuka Kinen (G1), and G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn).

“To be honest it was quite enjoyable,” said Lemaire with no little understatement of his association with Equinox as he accepted his award on Tuesday.

“Each time he ran there was a big expectation but on that horse I had such confidence. I tried to do my job as well as possible and I will miss him a lot. Like most top athletes he had a combination of physical strength and mental strength. His physical strength allowed him to run fast and use his beautiful stride. Also he was very clever, is he understood very quickly what he had to do to win. My job was just to get a good start and put him in a good position to let him express his talent.”

He added, “He was nearly the perfect racehorse and we have to congratulate the breeder for producing such a beautiful horse and the trainer for allowing him to mature and getting the best out of him. 

“Equinox was something special. He had an aura. Most of the people first discovered him in Dubai but in Japan he was already a rising star.”

Masashi Yonemoto, the CEO of Equinox's 300-strong ownership group Silk Racing, was in London to collect his award along with Kimura and Lemaire. A strong Japanese contingent was bolstered by the presence of Masayoshi Yoshida, the president of the Japan Racing Association (JRA), and Masayuki Goto, the JRA's executive adviser of international affairs, who received the trophy for the world's best race, which was a first for the Japan Cup in its 43-year history.

Equinox was rated 7lbs clear of last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, the unbeaten Ace Impact (Fr) (Cracksman {GB}), who was joint-second in the ratings with the G1 Prince of Wales's S. and Juddmonte International winner Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) on 128. They were thus Europe's top-rated runners for 2023, a pound clear of G1 Queen Elizabeth S. winner Big Rock (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) and the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) who were joint fourth on 127.

Hukum's runner-up at Ascot, Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}), and Hong Kong's champion Golden Sixty (Aus) were next on 126, while the dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) was awarded a mark of 125 for his victory in the G1 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, the same as Lucky Sweynesse (NZ), who was judged to have run to that mark on three occasions at Sha Tin and was the top-rated sprinter in the world.

There was a five-way tie for tenth place with a rating of 124 having been awarded to White Abarrio (Race Day), Cody's Wish (Curlin), Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), Titleholder (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) and Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}).

In total, 36 horses achieved a rating in excess of 120. Of these, nine were trained in Britain, seven in Japan, seven in the USA, four in Hong Kong, and three each in France, Ireland and Australia. Frankel was the sire of four of the top 15 horses in Europe – Mostahdaf, Westover, Onesto (Ire) and Triple Time (Ire) – and grandsire of the co-top-rated Ace Impact, who was also the highest-rated three-year-old in the world. 

It was a particularly good year for European three-year-old colts, with Ace Impact being joined by Big Rock, Auguste Rodin, Paddington and King Of Steel among the top 20 horses globally. 

Three of the four top-rated fillies or mares in the world were also trained in Europe and all hail from the Newmarket stable of John and Thady Gosden. Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was awarded a mark of 121 for her G1 Dahlbury Coronation Cup win, while Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) was on 120 for her success in the G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois, the same mark given to Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) for her G1 Falmouth S. win. The aforementioned Liberty Island tied with Emily Upjohn on a mark of 121.

Also on 121 was the top-rated stayer, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's Melbourne Cup winner Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who started his career with Simon and Ed Crisford in Britain before switching to the Australian stable of Anthony and Sam Freedman. With Lucky Sweynesse leading the way for the older sprinters, the top three-year-old sprinter in the world for 2023 was the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup winner Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) on 120.

Four of the top ten races in the world in 2023 were staged in Japan, with the Takarazuka Kinen in fifth spot, the Tenno Sho (Autumn) joint-sixth and the Arima Kinen in eighth. The Equinox factor had a firm say in the rankings of the races, with the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic ranked second with an average rating of 126.50. The Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, a regular winner of this title, was third on 124.75, just ahead of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. on 124.50. The Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S was co-sixth, while the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques Le Marois was ninth and the Juddmonte International tenth. 

The official rankings are compiled by the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings Committee, which is co-chaired by Nigel Gray and Dominic Gardiner-Hill, and they are published by the IFHA.

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Let's get out more. And where better to start than by hitching a ride on the stallion trails? This Friday marks the tenth anniversary of the two-day ITM Irish Stallion Trail which was started in response to the rising popularity of Normandy's La Route des Etalons, which made its debut in 2011 and this year takes place on January 20 and 21.

A recent house move by my old Pacemaker boss Julian Muscat meant that I was gifted a huge pile of Stud & Stable magazines dating back to the 1960s. I've always held firmly to the belief that time spent reading is never time wasted, and only daily deadlines have dragged me away from this pile which has so far been a source of delight and education in equal measure. After all, the best way to avoid present unpleasantness is to bury oneself in the past. It's not only a great diversion, but also a reminder that the problems we face now are not that much different to those faced 50 or 100 years ago. Open up any edition of the Bloodstock Breeders' Review and you're likely to find someone bemoaning the fact that stallions are covering too many mares, though too many 50 years ago was 60 instead of 40. There may well be some grave-spinning at the current book sizes.

In the May 1968 edition of Stud & Stable, at the price of seven shillings and sixpence and with a rather nice cover painting of Lord Leverhulme on a hunter surrounded by mares and a lurcher, there can be found a report by Michael Ross on what was perhaps the first unofficial 'route des etalons'. Ross's tour of Normandy was a bit more of a beano than this correspondent's has been in recent years. He spent a whole week driving around with two pals, visiting 32 studs and inspecting 66 stallions. Impressive. 

Some of those mentioned are now no longer in operation as Thoroughbred studs but, comfortingly, a good number of them live on. We hear of Mme Couturié's Haras du Mesnil, where the French Guineas winner Blue Tom (Fr) had recently taken up duties alongside the farm's most famous resident and fellow Classic winner, Right Royal (Fr). These days, Couturié's grandson Henri Devin and his wife Antonia keep the Mesnil name in lights and they have recently taken charge of the G1 Champion S. winner Bay Bridge (GB) to stand alongside the popular Doctor Dino (Fr).

Ross also calls in at Haras de Mortrée, which he describes as “one of the principal vendors at Deauville each year”. He is shown around by the young stud manager Antoine Bozo. Sound familiar? Bozo, who later managed Haras du Mézeray and died in 2020 at the age of 83, was the father of Henri Bozo of Ecurie des Monceaux, which can also be described as one of the principal vendors at Deauville each year.

I can almost hear you thinking “get to the point”, so let's try. This Friday and Saturday 37 farms in Ireland will throw open their doors to visitors, with 156 stallions on show, from the properly established to the up-and-coming, and of course the latest intake, which includes Paddington (GB), Good Guess (GB), Pyledriver (GB) and Native Trail (GB). If you've missed Authorized (Ire), sire of the wonderful Tiger Roll (Ire), since he left Britain for France then Turkey, he has recently been repatriated to the land of his birth and you can call in to see him at Capital Stud, one of Ireland's newest stallion operations. 

It is certainly worth checking out the informative Irish Stallion Trail pages on the ITM website to plan your route. Registration is suggested, and is compulsory for visitors to Coolmore, and not all studs are open both days. You will find opening hours under the listing for each stud. 

They say that there is no point getting older if you don't get a little wiser. I don't have an abundance of wisdom to impart generally but as a veteran of stallion trails I would say that less is more (and by that I don't necessarily mean when it comes to the generous hospitality on offer).

When these initiatives first started I took the view that I had to try to see as many studs as possible all in one weekend. Big mistake. Approach this weekend as if it's merely part one: you can always return next year. Study the map and try to pick a few within reasonable proximity to each other so you can properly appreciate not just the stallions, but also the farms and their surrounding countryside, chatting with fellow visitors, and of course the aforementioned hospitality. 

In previous years I have toured with Nancy Sexton in Ireland and Alix Choppin in France, and far be it from me to question my dear friends' navigation skills but we spent an awful lot of time attempting to find Ballylinch Stud and Haras de Bonneval respectively. Let's just say we had them surrounded.

The time wasted negotiating three-point turns in country lanes in Co Kilkenny in particular happened to be in the year that the stallion trail coincided with the Bacchanalian gathering otherwise known as the ITBA Awards. The long hours on the road, culminating in a dram or two of Maurice Burns's whiskey during our last port of call at Rathasker Stud, meant a shamefully early departure from the dance floor, though in our defence the dancing at the ITBA Awards never really starts until the wee small hours at the earliest.

If you manage to see Workforce (GB), Waldgeist (GB) and Sottsass (Fr) in Ireland this weekend, in France a week later you can view the latest winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Ace Impact (Ire), who drew plenty of visitors during Arqana's Breeding Stock Sale in early December. He is the most expensive new stallion in the country and is bound to ensure that Haras de Beaumont remains busy during the route des etalons, which includes 20 studs and 97 stallions. 

The French TBA has compiled another excellent website with a full list of farms and stallions, as well as that all-important map. Depending on which studs you would like to visit there is often quite a bit of driving to be done, but even in gloomy January a tour through Calvados country and beyond does wonders to lift the spirits.

Back on that first official route des etalons in 2011, Elusive City topped France's list of stallions at a covering fee of €15,000. It is not simply this initiative which has helped to revive the French breeding industry, though it is easy to believe that it has helped. That was also the first year Siyouni (Fr) stood on the Aga Khan Studs roster, at an introductory fee of €7,000. Now he's top of the pops and commands the lofty nomination price of €200,000. They were shrewd breeders who backed him in the early days. 

Guessing who will follow in his wake is all part of the fun of being involved in the breeding industry. So let's leave the naysayers to their doom-scrolling and take to the great outdoors to see if we can narrow it down ourselves with some important research on the stallion trails.

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Keen observers of the French scene will detect a swell on the horizon. Following the untimely demise of Le Havre (Ire) and the sale to Coolmore of Wootton Bassett (GB), Siyouni (Fr) has been almost a lone head bobbing along in the elite waters, but the pool of talent is swiftly being refilled. A strong intake of stallions in France this year has an obvious leading player in the unbeaten Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Ace Impact (Ire), whose light shone brightly, if a little too briefly for some, during the summer of 2023.

The son of Cracksman (GB) has joined Haras de Beaumont, which, in less than two years of existence, is already home to the busiest French stallion of the year in Sealiway (Fr). That dual Group 1 winner will now have to make room for Ace Impact as he embarks on his new career as the most expensive first-season sire in the country for 2024 at a fee of €40,000.

Mathieu Alex runs Haras de Beaumont for Kamel Chehboub, who bought a 50% share in Ace Impact from Serge Stempniak midway through the season, and whose daughter Pauline is also heavily involved with the stud and the family's horses in training, who compete under the name of Gousserie Racing. 

“Serge Stempniak, who previously owned 100%, made it very clear when we approached him that he would like the horse to stand in France,” Alex explains. “Obviously Kamel and his family were very ambitious from day one. With Haras de Beaumont the idea was to try to have the best possible stallion prospects.”

Plenty of breeders have already had the chance to inspect Ace Impact during the week of the Breeding Stock Sale at Arqana, just 10 minutes down the road from Beaumont, which sits on part of the estate of the storied Haras du Quesnay. It is a safe bet that the stud will also be inundated with visitors during La Route des Etalons on the weekend of January 20 and 21.

“Haras de Beaumont was created last year, summer 2022, really. And when we had our first discussion with Kamel about this project, it was always very clear for him that standing stallions was an important part of the movement,” says Alex. 

“Obviously it started with Sealiway. He and his family were the owners of Sealiway, a top-class performer, so it was a nice introduction, you know, to be able to stand a horse like Sealiway. But we never could have thought that a year or two in we'd be standing on a horse like Ace Impact. It's great for the team. It's great for me. It's great for France.”

He continues, “I think his acceleration is probably what everyone is talking about. And the fact that he's unbeaten is a big deal. His trainer did a wonderful job in the way he spaced time between the races and targeted the best races he could. He was extremely impressive in the French Derby because he was so far back, yet very relaxed. And when you think that he was probably ten lengths behind Big Rock at the end of the straight and won by two and a half lengths beating that Group 1 winner, it's extraordinary.”

It is easy to forget that Ace Impact was still unraced at this time last year. Between the end of January and the beginning of October, he ran six times in a faultless progression from maiden to champion. Shortly after the horse's retirement, his trainer Jean-Claude Rouget told TDN why he had chosen to start the horse off at Cagnes-sur-Mer in January. 

“I prefer to give [my horses] experience and, to me, Cagnes-sur-Mer is a very good track,” he said. “I used to send 30 or 40 horses every winter. I did the same with Raabihah. She should have won the Diane for me. She was a close fourth, and after [Cagnes] she won [a Listed race] in Longchamp. I consider running in January to be the same as running in November. I don't push my horses to start. First time out I want there to be no risk.”

With Frankel's son Onesto (Ire) retiring to Haras d'Etreham for the coming season, Ace Impact extends that line again to the next generation and also increases the amount of Galileo blood available at Beaumont. Alongside Galileo's grandson Sealiway, there is also the dependable Intello (Ger), a son of Galileo whose season has been lifted by his dual Group 1-winning son Junko (GB).

Ace Impact's dam Absolutly Me (Fr) is a daughter of another Prix du Jockey Club winner in Anabaa Blue (GB), which brings in some inbreeding to the influential mare Allegretta (GB), whose daughters Urban Sea and Allez les Trois appear on opposite sides of Ace Impact's pedigree as the dams of Galileo and Anabaa Blue respectively. 

“Ace Impact is obviously from the Frankel line and his dam has produced five runners, five winners, and three black-type horses, including a champion. She's a good mare. And it's a nice combination between speed–Cracksman's dam is by Pivotal–and obviously stamina,” says Alex.

“Because he never raced outside France, we've had a lot of people coming to see him–Americans, Japanese, obviously [breeders from] Europe, England, Ireland, Germany, France. You know, it's very exciting. They all come with the excitement of coming to see a champion, and to see him physically is very important. He's going down very well.”

As Pauline Chehboub greeted those breeders through early December, she was able to bring them into the stud office for refreshments alongside the imposing trophy presented for the horse's final race, which is a replica of the Arc de Triomphe itself.

She casts her mind back to that day at Lonchamp in October. “The preparation was so good. Jean-Claude Rouget was so happy with him, so there was no pressure until the week of the race,” she says. “It was crazy to have the Arc favourite, an unbeaten three-year-old. So it was a memorable day, maybe [the most memorable] in our life.”

Chehboub continues, “It's special that we're just a new stud, a new project; and to have a champion like that, just one year after the beginning is incredible. And we are very happy with Sealiway, too, because he was the most popular stallion in France this season, for his first season.”

But this year, it's the Cartier champion three-year-old colt that people are flocking to see. She adds of Ace Impact, “Everybody wants to see him, to touch him. He's not a legend, but he will be, I hope so. He's special and it means a lot to us.”

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Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget for Gousserie Racing and Serge Stempniak, the unbeaten colt is the first French-trained winner of the award since Treve (Fr) in 2013. His sire Cracksman was the Cartier Three-Year Old Colt of 2017.

Ace Impact's fellow nominees for the premier award were Coolmore's Paddington (GB) and Auguste Rodin (Ire), each of whom won four Group 1 races during 2023, and Mostahdaf (Ire), winner of the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes and G1 Juddmonte International.

Ace Impact also receives the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt Award, a category in which Paddington, Auguste Rodin and the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. winner Big Rock (Ire) were also shortlisted. 

Shadwell's homebred Mostahdaf, a son of Frankel (GB) trained by John and Thady Gosden, was named Cartier Older Horse over Hukum (Ire) and Westover (GB), who produced one of the races of the year in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO S., and Inspiral (GB), a previous dual Cartier Award winner.

Tahiyra (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), a fifth-generation homebred for the Aga Khan, received the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Award. Trained by Dermot Weld, she won the Irish 1,000 Guineas, G1 Coronation S. and G1 Matron S. Her conquer in the 1,000 Guineas, Mawj (Ire), was shortlisted for the prize along with French Classic heroine Blue Rose Cen (Ire) and Warm Heart (Ire), who posted Group 1 wins at York and Longchamp this year.

Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), trained by Julie Camacho to win the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 July Cup, was named Cartier Sprinter. Co-bred by his owner Martin Hughes, he received the award ahead of his fellow Group 1 winners Highfield Princess (Fr), Live In The Dream (Ire) and Art Power (Ire).

Having been crowned Cartier Stayer in 2021, Trueshan clinched the award for a second time. Now seven, and trained by Alan King for the Singula Partnership, Trueshan returned to top form in 2023 to win the G2 Doncaster Cup and G1 Prix du Cadran. Gold Cup winner Courage Mon Ami (GB), St Leger winner Continuous (Jpn), and the tearaway G1 Goodwood Cup winner Quickthorn (GB) were also nominated.

There was a clean sweep for the Coolmore partners in the juvenile division, with City Of Troy named Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and Opera Singer claiming the award for Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly. Both are by the Triple Crown winner Justify and trained by Aidan O'Brien. Also shortlisted in their respective categories were the colts Vandeek (GB), Henry Longfellow (Ire) and Rosallion (GB), and fillies Porta Fortuna (Ire), Fallen Angel (GB) and Ylang Ylang (GB).

Jeff Smith, the hugely successful owner/breeder based at Littleton Stud in Hampshire, was the recipient of the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit in A longstanding and popular figure in racing, Smith's colours have been carried by  a notable list of horses, including Chief Singer, Lochsong (GB), Persian Punch (Ire), and Alcohol Free (Ire). They were most recently seen in stakes-winning action aboard the G2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge S. winner Ghostwriter (Ire), trained by Clive Cox.

Laurent Feniou, managing director of Cartier UK, said, “I am delighted to celebrate another outstanding group of horses at the 33rd Cartier Racing Awards. Ace Impact displayed his brilliance throughout the year, culminating with a magnificent victory in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and he is a deserving recipient of the Cartier Horse of the Year Award. We are also extremely pleased to present the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit to Jeff Smith, who has enjoyed tremendous success as an owner and breeder over the past six decades. Cartier are honoured to be able to recognise these champions of the sport and I congratulate all of this year's winners.”

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Speaking to TDN at Tattersalls, Chehboub said, “When we established Haras de Beaumont the idea was to target exceptional future stallions prospects. Ace Impact has won the French Derby, he's won the Arc, he's unbeaten. As we all know, to race on for another year is taking a risk for the horse, and a lot of breeders want to use him. He's a true champion; there is a demand for him. For France it is fantastic news, and from day one that was part of the project.”

Bred by Waltraut Spanner, Ace Impact was bought by his trainer Jean-Claude Rouget on behalf of owner Serge Stempniak for €75,000 at the Arqana August Sale. A member of the first crop of Cracksman, he is out of the winning miler Absolutly Me (Fr) (Anabaa Blue {GB}) who had already produced the Listed-placed multiple winners Alessandro (Fr) and Apollo Flight (Fr). He hails from the same family as Lord Derby's seven-time Group 1 and dual Classic winner Ouija Board (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), who went on to produce the Derby winner Australia (GB).

Ace Impact started racing in January of this year at Cagnes-sur-Mer, where he made a winning debut over 10 furlongs before progressing through a conditions race in Bordeaux to the Listed Prix de Suresnes at Chantilly. There, on his next start, he handed out a sound beating to the favourite Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) in the Prix du Jockey Club. His Classic victory, completed in record time, was extraordinary not just for the winning margin of three and a half lengths but for his acceleration from the back of the 11-strong field to take charge in the final 400 metres with a devastating turn of foot.

Cristian Demuro, who rode Ace Impact in five of his six starts, said, “He's a horse from another planet. You only come across horses of this calibre every ten years. To win an Arc as a three-year-old, in which his powers of acceleration shone to the fore, while retaining his unbeaten record, is extraordinary.”

He won the Jockey Club in the colours of Stempniak and, following his part-sale, Ace Impact raced thereafter in the green-and-yellow silks of the Chehboub family's Gousserie Racing. These same colours were carried by by the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Champion S winner Sealiway (Fr), who, earlier this year became an important new sire at Beaumont, France's newest stallion operation. 

Following Ace Impact's wins in the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville in August, and ultimately the Arc, there was speculation that, even if retired this year, he could see out his career with a trip to the Japan Cup for a showdown with Japanese superstar Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}).

Chehboub said, “We had a discussion with our partner and we felt that to go to Japan was a very long journey for him, although we'd have loved to take on Equinox. But he has delivered everything we have asked of him. We are obviously very proud to have him, and to retire him to our farm. It's a very exciting next step.”

Stempniak added, “Ace Impact is the horse of my lifetime. It's been an extraordinary experience.

“The colt's ability to quicken has made quite an impression on me, and I think it has made an impression on everyone. It invited comparisons with Dancing Brave's Arc.

“I hope he will become a great stallion, and [I know] we can count on the professionalism of the whole team at Haras de Beaumont when it comes to managing his new career.”

Haras de Beaumont manager Mathieu Alex was at Tattersalls with Cheboub during the week. He said, “Over this week in Newmarket we have met many people who are keen to use him. That's great to hear; he's a very important horse for France.”

He added, “Welcoming an athlete of Ace Impact's calibre to Haras de Beaumont is an extraordinary privilege. Now rated 133 by Timeform, he is the world champion three-year-old. His performances in the Prix du Jockey Club and the Arc de Triomphe were truly amazing and the way he can quicken makes him very special.

“We are very proud to be standing this champion in France and would like to take this opportunity to thank again Serge Stempniak to have allow us to partner in this horse and Jean-Claude Rouget for his success with this champion.”

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Best of all was the victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the unbeaten Ace Impact (Ire), a member of the first crop of Cracksman (GB). That stellar performance was backed up by a first-crop Group 1 winner for Blue Point (Ire), who is leading the first-season sires' table and supplied the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner, Rosallion (Ire), a homebred for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid. Furthermore, the hugely likeable Highfield Princess (Fr) gained yet another Group 1 success in the Prix de l'Abbaye, and the daughter of Night Of Thunder (Ire) could head next to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita.

“To have three Group 1 winners by the stallions without Dubawi being one of them was new territory for us,” admits Sam Bullard, Darley's director of stallions.

“Ace Impact has been a high-profile 3-year-old through the whole summer. Obviously we were rooting for him and, by God, he was good. I watched it with [Cracksman's breeders] the Oppenheimers and they were so thrilled. It was lovely to see.

“Cracksman was obviously very good, and is the highest-rated son of Frankel, and he has had four 2-year-old winners since Sept. 16, so that is important too. One swallow doesn't make a summer, but there is plenty to back it up. Definitely his best book of mares was in 2023, too.”

With Blue Point out in front on 39 individual winners, he looks unlikely to be caught in the freshman championship, but Darley's Too Darn Hot (GB) has also made an eye-catching start with his first runners, and now has four group winners to his name.

“Too Darn Hot's runners were never going to be precocious but sure enough, once he got to August and September, away he went,” Bullard adds.

“It's been a long time coming but we are so lucky to see this success for sons of Dubawi and Shamardal. Earthlight's yearlings sold well last week in Goffs and we have Pinatubo's first yearlings here as well, and Ghaiyyath.

“It's been great to see both Dubawi and Shamardal do well for other studs too, with Lope De Vega, and Zarak for the Aga Khan. There are plenty of them and I think that's what really excites our principal, the idea that he's got horses who really are breed-shaping, who are making a difference to the long term of the breed. That really gives him a buzz.”

On the back of Blue Point's success this year, Darley will soon launch a “ground-breaking” feature on its website which will facilitate the sale of select breeding rights in its stallions. The project will launch on the weekend of the Darley Dewhurst S., with a breeding right in Blue Point the first to come onto the market.

“We have an auction site on the MyDarley website for any breeders who want to register,” Bullard explains.

“There are no breeding rights in Blue Point at the moment. There will never be more than 30, but we're going to sell one, and if there's a demand, we'll sell more.”

Darley will release further details on this unique feature in the coming weeks.

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We already know where he will stand at stud eventually since his part-sale after his victory in the Prix du Jockey Club to the Chehboub family's Gousserie Racing. Kamel and his daughter Pauline Cheboub will now decide with their partner and the colt's original owner Serge Stempniak and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget whether the unbeaten star will retire to their Haras de Beaumont for the 2024 covering season or remain in training as a 4-year-old.

In an update on Ace Impact on Monday morning, Pauline Cheboub told TDN, “He's in good shape and recovering well. We're really happy with him.

“We'll take the decision this week with the team and our partners and take the time to make the right decision for the horse. He deserves that.”

Kamel Cheboub, a long-time owner and breeder in France through his Haras de la Gousserie, was revealed this time last year as the buyer of a major part of the historic Haras du Quesnay, just outside Deauville. Christened Haras de Beaumont, the new stallion operation opened its doors earlier this year with the G1 Champion S. and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Sealiway (Fr) as its first headline stallion, backed up on the roster by the Wertheimer brothers' Intello (Ger). Mathieu Alex, who played such a key role, along with Sylvain Vidal, in the success of the stallion career of Le Havre (Ire), was appointed to manage Haras de Beaumont. 

The temptation will obviously be strong to retire a colt of the calibre of Ace Impact to stud, but Chehboub insisted that her family and Stempniak will take their time to consider the best course of action.

She continued, “We don't know his limits but it's difficult to top this season. He's a champion.

“It's an exciting time for us. We are very lucky to be part of this and we are pleased that we have a horse like him that we will be able to bring eventually to the French breeders, and Sealiway as well.”

Chehboub added, “We're lucky to have a great team – from the trainer, jockey and at the stud. Mathieu Alex is a great horseman and does such a great job. We're all just enjoying the moment.”

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A long-circled date on the calendar for the connections, the team is reportedly happy with Ace Impact's form going into the Arc as the general 7-2 favorite.

“We are very pleased with him since his run in the Prix Guillaume d'Ornano,” said Pauline Chehboub, racing manager for her family's Gousserie Racing operation.

“He is a very unique horse and every time he comes to the races it feels like he loves it. We are very fortunate to be a part of this champion. His target since the French Derby, like Jean-Claude Rouget announced, is the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, so we follow the plan. He is the Arc favourite, unbeaten and his limits are unknown. The dream continues.”

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As an aside, one wonders how much the clamour to run two-year-olds at Royal Ascot affects some decent juvenile races that follow in the wake of that meeting. At Ascot the six juvenile contests drew a total of 117 runners, while the four Group 2 two-year-old races in England and France in the last week attracted just 27.

When it comes to the current batch of second-crop stallions, it is notable that a number of them in both Europe and America have featured among this year's Classics. Cracksman (GB) has the best three-year-old colt in France, if not in Europe, in the Prix du Jockey Club winner Ace Impact (Fr). Havana Grey (GB) may not have sired a Classic winner yet but he is streaking ahead with stakes winners, the latest being the G2 Kingdom of Bahrain July S. winner Jasour (GB).

Five years ago, Justify and Good Magic finished first and second in the Kentucky Derby, but the latter is now a Kentucky Derby-winning sire thanks to the exploits of his first-crop son Mage. Justify, however, has since seized the limelight, both in his native country, where he stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud, and in Europe.

Last weekend he was responsible for two head-turning juvenile group winners, first at Newmarket, where the beautifully made City Of Troy stepped up on his impressive Curragh maiden win to post an emphatic success in the Bet365 Superlative S. for the Ballydoyle team. Rain-softened conditions from a torrential day on Friday may have exacerbated the winning margin but there was no disputing the scintillating manner of his performance.

You don't need to take my word for that, however. On Monday morning, Timeform revealed its rating for City Of Troy, whose dam Together Forever (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was a smart juvenile herself as the winner of the G1 Fillies' Mile. The son of Justify was duly given a mark of 119p, the highest ever awarded to a winner of the Superlative, and six pounds higher than that of Master Of The Seas (Ire), who went on to be beaten a short-head by Poetic Flare (Ire) in the following year's 2,000 Guineas (and indeed returned at the age of five to win Saturday's G2 Summer Mile by four lengths).

On Sunday, the Justify bandwagon rolled on as his daughter Ramatuelle continued her fine season which opened on April 11 when she became the first juvenile winner of the year for her fast-rising trainer Christopher Head. The G2 Prix Robert Papin was added to her earlier win in the G3 Prix du Bois and, as night follows day,   a start in the G1 Sumbe Prix Morny on Aug. 20 is now very much the obvious target. The Deauville juvenile highlight is a race that has seen horses from this Scat Daddy sire-line play a major role in recent years, with Scat Daddy's son and daughter, No Nay Never and Lady Aurelia, triumphing in 2013 and 2016 respectively, while No Nay Never's son Blackbeard (Ire) won last year. 

Justify, a member of Scat Daddy's penultimate crop, won solely on dirt in America, and he has been represented on that surface by last month's GI Woody Stephens S. winner Arabian Lion. Back on Belmont's turf track, however, his purple patch continued with the win last weekend of the Glen Hill Farm-bred Aspen Grove (Ire) in the GI Belmont Oaks. Trained by Fozzy Stack, she races for Glen Hill's Craig Bernick in partnership with Sue Magnier, and was a Group 3 winner in Ireland last season but disappointed when last in the Irish 1,000 Guineas prior to shipping to New York. We can look forward to her resumption in the Saratoga Oaks. It is also worth noting that Justify is leading the first-season sires' table in Australia, where he has the G2 Riesling S. winner Learning To Fly (Aus).

We have of course seen plenty of examples of what members of this sire-line can do on the grass, and in fact Aspen Grove's close relative is the G1 Moyglare Stud S. victrix Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy), who is a half-sister to the filly's dam Data Dependent (More Than Ready), who raced solely on turf.

Ramatuelle's dam Raven's Lady, whose sire Raven's Pass featured as the broodmare sire of two of the three group winners at Chantilly on Sunday, was also a turf runner who won the G2 Goldene Peitsche and G3 Summer S. for Marco Botti before being transferred to the US.

Unsurprisingly, Justify's European feats have not gone unnoticed by the team at Ashford Stud, particularly as both City Of Troy and Ramatuelle were raised there. Coolmore's Adrian Mansergh Wallace said on Monday, “City Of Troy getting seven furlongs so comfortably early on as a two-year-old bodes very well for him being effective over a mile as a three-year-old.

“Versatility is what this business is all about. If you look through his best runners so far, Arabian Lion is out of a Distorted Humor mare, Aspen Grove is out of a More Than Ready mare, Learning To Fly is out of a Fastnet Rock mare, City Of Troy is obviously out of a Galileo mare, and Verifying is out of a Repent mare. I think the fact they they are winning on all surfaces will only add to his legacy, and that was something that was very apparent with Scat Daddy, who was probably the best stallion we've ever stood here at Coolmore America.

“The line that is most synonymous with our farm here is the Storm Bird line and now we are very privileged to be standing the sixth and seventh generation of that line. It was noted for horses with precocious, two-year-old speed, but who trained on and got the Classic distances, as Justify obviously did in winning the Triple Crown.”

He added, “He's going to be leading freshman sire in Australia, he was one of the leading freshman sires up here last year in a strong group, and he's well on his way to perhaps being the leading second-crop sire up here. Hopefully the European runners will keep coming, but having Arabian Lion win a race as prestigious as the Woody Stephens on Belmont day is also very encouraging, then our own Verifying was second in the Blue Grass and won the Indiana Derby, and that keeps the dirt aspect of his career open.”

Take Note of Seabhac

Another son of Scat Daddy who entered the stallion ranks at the same time but with far less fanfare than Justify is Seabhac, and he should not be overlooked. He won the GIII Pilgrim S. on turf as a juvenile and joined Larissa Kneip's Haras de Saint Arnoult in 2019, with 58 foals resulting from that first crop.

Kneip sadly died last year but, ever the enthusiast in her varied roles in the business, it is easy to imagine that she would have taken great pride in Seabhac's success so far this year. Leading the way among his offspring is the G2 German 2,000 Guineas winner Angers (Fr), and his success was followed by that of Rue Boissonade (Fr) in Friday's G2 Prix de Malleret. The Mikel Delzangles-trained filly was bred by Kneip in partnership with United Breeders and was one of five group winners out of Galileo mares in Europe in the last week including the aforementioned Persian Dreamer and City Of Troy, and the G1 July Cup winner Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Fr}).

Seabhac, whose name is pronounced 'Shoke' and means hawk in Gaelic, has subsequently been moved to Haras du Taillis, where he stands alongside Fantastic Moon (GB), though this Group 3-winning son of Dalakhani (Ire) should not be confused with this year's German Derby winner of the same name but different suffix.

Diamond Days

There was plenty to enjoy both at Newmarket's July meeting and in France over the last week, and no horse was given a greater reception, even in the ceaseless rain, than Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}). It is always a joy to see Classic winners remain in training past the age of three, but Nashwa's owner/breeder Imad Al Sagar could have been forgiven if he had started to wonder if he had done the right thing after his burly filly suffered two defeats in her first two starts of the year. 

Nashwa, however, simply saved her best for top-class company on her home track where she returned to a mile for the first time since April of last year, and she blitzed her rivals to win the G1 Tattersalls Falmouth S. For the Gosden team by five lengths. 

Extra glory was to come for Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud when Nashwa's half-brother Louganini (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}), a treble winner in England, added to his tally with a victory at Ta'if in Saudi Arabia. Then on Sunday, the Blue Diamond-bred Araminta (GB) (Gleaneagles {Ire}) won the G3 Prix Chloe at Chantilly for Henry Candy, who mooted the possibility of the three-year-old filly heading next to Glorious Goodwood and the G1 Nassau S., in which Nashwa will attempt to defend her title. 

Bought as a yearling from Tattersalls for 82,000gns, Araminta hails from a family which has been successful for various members of the Rothschild family over the decades, most recently for Lady (Serena) Rothschild, who died in 2019, prompting a dispersal of her Waddesdon Stud stock. It was from there that Araminta's dam, the Group 3 and treble Listed-winning sprinter Mince (GB) (Medicean {GB}), was purchased by Blue Diamond Stud. Sadly she produced just the one foal for the breeder as she died the following year at the age of 12.

Araminta's co-owner Alex Frost, CEO of the Tote, posed the question as to whether there has been a more veteran trainer-and-jockey combination to land a group race than Henry Candy and Gerald Mosse at 78 and 56 respectively. We think that prize may go to Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning with Poetic Flare but, nevertheless, it was noteworthy teamwork by the highly respected duo. Candy also saddled the July Cup runner-up Run To Freedom (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) during a memorable weekend for his stable. We'll hear more about that horse's conqueror, Shaquille, in tomorrow's TDN.

As for Araminta, she is owned by a partnership consisting of Frost, his fellow owner-breeder Andrew Stone of St Albans Bloodstock, and old friend Alex Acloque, who is a grandson of the noted Classic-winning breeder Lord Howard de Walden.

“It's just wonderful for Henry and for everybody, especially considering she only made her first start in April,” Frost told TDN. “This is the third Group 3 winner we've had and by some considerable way she was the most expensive.”

Araminta, who has been beaten only once in four starts when third in the Listed Conqueror Fillies' S. at Goodwood, subsequently returned to the Sussex track to win the Listed Height Of Fashion S. before heading to France.

“The way she races you would be mad keen to go to a mile and a half with her but it doesn't make any sense on paper, though Gleneagles does seem to be imparting plenty of stamina to his offspring,” said Frost, who owns Ladyswood Stud in Gloucestershire.

He added of the partnership, “Alex is an absolute racing nut and he has always been involved in horses with me, and Andrew got involved in this filly. The idea was to buy a broodmare together but we kept getting priced out of the broodmare market so we thought we'd have to try to make one, which can often be an expensive mistake. But so far, so good.

“We all live very close to each other. Andrew is a good mate and a Tote investor, and he's always been very supportive. Alex I've known since I was six or seven; we grew up together.”

Frost and his father have been long-term supporters of Henry Candy's stable at Kingstone Warren. He said of the trainer, “Henry understands every inch of a horse. That's what it's all about really, the total appreciation of an animal. He's a trainer who goes to see his horses every night, day, morning, feels every leg. There's nothing he wouldn't know about each horse.

“We were very tempted to push to run her at two but he said, 'She'll tell us when'. What I love about her is that she does nothing at home and it's only when she gets to the racecourse that she gets really stuck in. I always think that's a sign of a good horse.”

Juddmonte Sires to the Fore

Juddmonte Farms celebrated a Grade 1 winner at Saratoga in the Diana S. with the former Roger Charlton-trained Whitebeam (GB) (Caravaggio), and the operation's stallions Frankel (GB) and Kingman (GB) were also each represented by Group 1 winners in the past week. 

The aforementioned Nashwa claimed her third and became the eighth Group 1 winner for Frankel this year, while Kingman's Feed The Flame (GB) delivered on his early promise this season with victory in the Grand Prix de Paris on just his fourth start. He continued a fine year for his co-breeder and vendor Ecurie des Monceaux, which is also co-owner of Ramatuelle, and raised and sold the treble Group 1 winner Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) for the Wildenstein family's Dayton Investments. Incidentally, both Feed The Flame and Paddington are out of mares by Montjeu (Ire). To add a cherry on top of this good run, Monceaux also bred Shaquille's sire, Charm Spirit (also from a Montjeu mare).

There was also a welcome return for another Kingman three-year-old, Nostrum (GB), a one-time 2,000 Guineas fancy who made a successful belated seasonal return in the Listed Sir Henry Cecil S. and will surely be back in group company before long. 

But it was two longstanding Juddmonte names, Oasis Dream (GB) and the late Dansili (GB), who combined in the pedigree of arguably the most notable performer of the week. The Gestut Fahrhof-bred Quinault (Ger) has been a revelation this year since joining the stable of Stuart Williams from Godolphin, and the three-year-old has now won six handicaps on the bounce, starting on a rating of 59, and claiming his most recent success on the July Course off a mark of 90. An expensive purchase at the Craven Breeze-up Sale for 310,000gns, Quinault returned to the same ring a little over six months later to fetch 25,000gns to TJE Racing. He has proved worthy of every penny of that outlay at the Horses-in-Training Sale, with his earnings now closing in on £150,000 and a shot at stakes company clearly not beyond the realms of possibility. 

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