PRIX ACE IMPACT

A race with a serious pedigree. The last 3 renewals have all been won by Jean-Claude Rouget with Ace Impact (2023), Arrow Eagle (2024) and Leffard (2025) who all went on to win in Group 1 company. Rouget has a 29% strike rate at the track and whilst there will be some who will point to the fact that Andre Fabre and Francis-Henri Graffard pay very little attention to the early season meeting at Cagnes-Sur-Mer and therefore the fields can be weaker than those in the North, I take a different view. Cagnes-Sur-Mer is a very fair track and can be a great place to give a horse and education with its long sweeping turns and galloping straight seeming to help these young 3-year-olds to settle and finish their races. It must work, the form book shows that horses like Ace Impact and Lazzat learn their craft here and the form transfers elsewhere. So what of this year’s race? The fact that Armano was making his debut, a Waldgeist half-brother to Ace Impact and Arrow Eagle trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, caught the headlines and we will come to him, but I think that does a disservice to the winner, who looked very smart in his own right.

PRIX ACE IMPACT

Cagnes-Sur-Mer - 15th January 2026 - PSF Standard

3YO Debutantes Maiden - 2,000m - €10,500

2:05.39 (Réduction KM 1:02.69) - Finishing Speed 113%

Frankish (Barberot) had the pedigree to play a part in this race. He is a Lope de Vega Colt out of the 1,000 Guineas winner Miss France. Her progeny haven’t lived up to her reputation so far, but this is a new line with Lope de Vega and he looked highly professional in the parade ring beforehand. Stall 1 helped but it’s important to note that there was a very long hold for some of these horses as a couple of the debutantes proved difficult to load. Frankish started quickly, running 12.81 and 12.01s for the opening 2 furlongs to get into a prominent position. The pace dropped around the turn and so having that prominent position helped, but I was really impressed by the way that he quickened through the gaps in the home straight, pulling clear to win by 2 lengths with a top speed of 67.5 km/h. The McLloyd sectional times show that he ran 33.29s for the final 600m, with closing furlongs of 10.68 and 10.97s. Those are some rapid numbers and the overall time was quicker than the Fillies race won by Harmonize earlier on the card. He had this race won with a furlong to run but galloped through the line and shaped like a nice horse. An SP of 4.2 PMU suggested he was thought capable and this was an excellent start. Hopefully his connections will continue his education at Cagnes in the weeks ahead before he heads back to the North.

If Frankish does prove to be above average, then I have to give a mention to Cosmic Boy, who made a fine start for Manon Scandella-Lacaille and Jean-Claude Seroul. He is by De Treville and his dam is a half-sister to Henk Grewe’s smart 2-year-old Kairos. Although he couldn’t get to the winner, I thought he found plenty in the closing stages and he was only 2 lengths behind the winner, despite having to race 3 wide around the turn. He will almost certainly win a maiden with a better run through.

I have to come to Armano before I finish this analysis. Having stood in the stalls for 5 minutes, he seemed to nod off and he blew the start as a result. An opening furlong 13.75s gave him too much to do and more importantly, left him at the rear of the field on the inside rail behind a wall of horses. You simply cannot win from there at Cagnes-Sur-Mer and although Cristian Demuro did his best to plot a path through the field, he finished a never-nearer 5th and wasn’t given a hard time when his chance was gone. Closing furlongs of 10.95 and 11.32s, the latter under a hands ride, suggest that he has plenty of ability and should give a much better showing next time if he breaks on terms.

Summary

The media hype around Armano may well have diverted some attention from the winner, but Frankish has a smart pedigree in his own right and I don’t think this performance should be overlooked. Armano and Cosmic Boy will win maidens next time, but despite the fact that we have to acknowledge that Frankish had a dream run round, he quickened like a good horse in the closing stages and there are plenty of reasons to hope that he will prove to be above average based on the strength of this performance.