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Prix du Jockey Club hero Ace Impact is set to head straight to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe following his recent victory at Deauville.
The Jean-Claude Rouget-trained son of Cracksman emphatically scooped Classic honours at Chantilly and took his record to a perfect five out of five when returning from a short break to down Joseph O’Brien’s Al Riffa on the Normandy coast.
That cosy victory gave Rouget back-to-back triumphs in the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano and he looks to have found the perfect candidate to bid for his second victory in Europe’s richest middle-distance contest, a race for which Ace Impact is the general 7/2 favourite.
Rouget sent Sottsass to the Prix Niel before finishing third in the Arc in 2019, while the Irish Champion Stakes was used to set him up for his big-race triumph in the French capital 12 months later.
Rouget also used the Leopardstown Group One to prepare French Derby champion Vadeni for Arc duty last season, with the Aga Khan’s colt finishing third in Dublin before taking the runner-up spot behind Alpinista in the Bois de Boulogne.
Ace Impact (near) runs down Big Rock to win the Prix du Jockey Club
However, October 1 has long been circled on the calendar of connections and they are happy that Ace Impact will be seen next in ParisLongchamp in perfect order as they continue to dream of Arc glory.
“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, who purchased 50 per cent of the colt from Serge Stempniak after the Prix du Jockey Club.
“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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