The pressure is on for Japanese star Equinox after Ace Impact jumped to second spot on our exclusive Global Rankings with a scintillating victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
The long-held status of Japanese star Equinox as world #1 came under serious assault at the weekend with Ace Impact’s sensational victory in Europe’s most prestigious race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Claiming the €5m event with an electric turn of foot reminiscent of the great Dancing Brave, the French colt extended his unbeaten streak to six, in the process catapulting himself to #2 (from #25, +342pt) on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings.
Ace Impact’s current portfolio stands at 2046pts – just 35 beneath Equinox (2081pt) , whose reign at the top has now lasted a total of 28 weeks since his Dubai Sheema Classic triumph.
Equinox is set to return in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) on October 28 at Tokyo racecourse but at the time of writing the future is unclear for Ace Impact, who scored a commanding victory at ParisLongchamp by a length and three-quarters over the admirable Westover (stays at #8, +23pt).
Lucrative opportunities at stud for the three-year-old son of Cracksman (#89 among turf sires, from #159, +67) will be a tempter for connections, although his owner has mentioned a predilection for major overseas targets – although presumably the Breeders’ Cup won’t feature among them, given trainer Jean-Claude Rouget’s aversion to US racing, stated bluntly in the post-Arc press conference.
On the other hand, Rouget (#14 from #20, +151pt) was waxing lyrical about Ace Impact, his second Arc winner after Sottsass, also ridden by jockey Cristian Demuro (#24 from #31, +67pt) in 2020.
“The best acceleration I’ve ever seen is Zarkava and this horse is not far off,” offered the trainer. “Sottsass was a very good horse and a very strong horse, but he was not the same type of horse. He was an extraordinary horse, but this one has the power of acceleration of one of the top horses in the world.
“My last reflection before the start of the race was to say to myself, ‘it’s too good to be true’, but it was not too good, it was true!”
Ace Impact is the first three-year-old to win the Arc since Enable in 2017 and the first horse to complete the Prix du Jockey Club/Arc double since the French Derby distance was reduced in 2005. He will surely be crowned European champion for 2023.
With a multitude of G1 contests over the Qatar-sponsored Arc weekend, it was hardly surprising that several other horses made significant moves on the rankings.
Veteran stayer Trueshan (#18 from 65, +150pt) gave the lie to suggestions his best days might be behind him in the Prix du Cadran, while dual French Classic heroine Blue Rose Cen (#28 from #45, +28pt) also rediscovered something like her best form in the Prix de l’Opera and Highfield Princess (#37 from #43, +15pt) had too much oomph for her rivals, overcoming a bad draw in the Prix de l’Abbaye.
By the way, form students take note: the ground was nowhere near as testing in Paris as is typically the case. Another one to note was G2 winner Horizon Dore (#83 from #197, +150pt) – now set for the Qipco Champion Stakes after an odds-on win in the G2 Prix Dollar, in which the three-year-old gelding was completing a four-timer.
Another notable mover in Europe last week was leading two-year-old Vandeek (#33 from #84, +139pt), who took his unbeaten record to four in a hot-looking renewal of the G1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday [Sept 30]. This was a second G1 success for the son of Havana Grey after the Prix Morny.
The impressive Vandeek also helped provide a nice bump to the training partnership of Simon & Ed Crisford (#26 from #56, +115pt), also on the scoreboard in France with G2 winner Poker Face.
It promises to be another exciting weekend for this internationally minded operation, with Breeders’ Cup hope Algiers re-routed to Toronto after heavy rain led him to be scratched from the Woodward at the ‘Belmont at the Big A’ meet, while West Wind Blows tries out the G1 Turnbull in Melbourne.
Talking of Australia, six-year-old mare Imperatriz (#9 from #17, +116pt) cracks the world Top Ten with the sixth G1 success of her career for the powerful Te Akau team in the Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday night [Sept 29].
Also on the move are Think About It (#21 from 56, +110pt), so good in Brisbane at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, and former Sir Michael Stoute-trained Just Fine (#53 from #296, +273pt), who won the G1 Metrop at Randwick for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott.
And finally to North America, where the headine horse from a slew of Breeders’ Cup preps was Cody’s Wish (stays at #6, +39pt), who regained the winning thread with a businesslike effort cutting back in trip in the Vosburgh.
Slow Down Andy (#49 from #262, +274pt) and Zandon (#72 from #308, +227pt) looks set to join the party in the Breeders’ Cup Classic after scoring on either coast, while Adare Manor (#50 from £91, +88pt) kept on rolling to the Distaff after a facile win over three rivals at Santa Anita.
• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires