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Ace Impact Crowned Cartier Horse of the Year

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Classic winner Ace Impact (Fr) (Cracksman {GB}) has been named Cartier Horse of the Year at the 33rd Cartier Racing Awards ceremony at London's Dorchester Hotel.

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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Ace Impact Retired to Haras de Beaumont

Ace Impact (Fr) (Cracksman {GB}), the brilliant winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Prix du Jockey Club, will not race on and is set to take up stud duties at his part-owner Kamel Chehboub's Haras de Beaumont from 2024.

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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Blue Point Breeding Right to be Auctioned by Darley

With Dubawi as its lynchpin, there have of course been plenty of red-letter days for Darley in recent years, but the results from the Arc meeting at Longchamp on Sunday can nevertheless be deemed to be extra special.

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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Ace Impact: Decision on Future to be Made This Week

From a January debut at Cagnes-sur-Mer to a jaw-dropping victory on France's biggest day of racing, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}) has had quite the season and is now the hottest property in European racing.

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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