Ace Impact on Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe trail after Group 2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano
The son of Cracksman remains unbeaten after backing up his Prix du Jockey Club success over the same 10-furlong trip, his pacemaker Cambronne doing his job well out in front under Ioritz Mendizabal.
Ace Impact sat second last throughout under Cristian Demuro, after racing keenly in the early stages, and had to make up a serious amount of ground in the straight, but the 2/7 favourite finished well to win by a length.
Al Riffa finished second at 9/2 for Joseph O'Brien, with Birr Castle third for Andre Fabre.
Paddy Power left the winner unchanged at 7/2 for the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe in October.
“We will have to discuss his future with the partners (Gousserie Racing and Ecuries Serge Stempniak) – either he will have another race before the Arc or go straight to the big one,” Rouget told www.thoroughbreddailynews.com.
“We will have less pressure on than we did today, as these races are very difficult to call beforehand. There is a lot at stake with a horse that is an undefeated, brilliant winner of the Prix du Jockey Club and who has been partly sold since.
“You don’t want to lose, you don’t know if the horse still wants to fight, if the race will be tactical, if he is ready enough knowing very well that he is not 100 per cent because that’s how I do things.
“You could see early in the race that he was keen, because he is fresh, but once the race went into a good rhythm, he relaxed.
“He showed the same acceleration and just idled a bit at the end, as he needed the race. It is a big relief for all the reasons I mentioned.”
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCareon 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org
