GREATEST race in the world?

This was one of 12 questions posed to Pauline Chehboub late last December by an interviewer from TDN. Her answer was the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and she added that it “is such a historical race, super popular and hard to win.”

Nine months later, she and her family were themselves to become part of the history of the great race, welcoming home the unbeaten champion Ace Impact following the three-year-olds scintillating triumph over Westover and Onesto.

What a justification this was for the Chehboub family, who purchased a 50% share in the son of Cracksman in the aftermath of his victory over Big Rock in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club, the French Derby.

The Jean-Claude Rouget-trained Ace Impact carried the colours of Serge Stempniak to that classic success, achieved in a record time, and afterwards the owner was inundated with offers for his colt. While he was being courted by stud owners from around the world, he had one wish, and that was for Ace Impact to remain in France for his stallion career. This is also an indication of how strong and international the stallion ranks in France have become in recent times.

At the time of the deal to sell an interest in Ace Impact, Stempniak said: “I was very keen for Ace Impact to remain in France for his stallion career, and it was also very important for me to engage in a French partnership.

“I am very happy to enter into a partnership with the Chehboub family. We hit it off straight away, and they are people with great human values.”

Explaining their keenness to acquire Ace Impact, Pauline Chehboub said: “Ace Impact is the best classic winner of his generation in Europe, and his rating ranks him among the top five horses in the world. He represents an exceptional opportunity for French breeders, and letting him go abroad would have been a great loss.”

Honorary Irishman

The decision to seek a deal for Ace Impact is explained by Mathieu Alex, an honorary Irishman who runs Haras de Beaumont for the Chehboub family.

“The Jockey Club performance was the moment. I just encourage people to watch it again and again; it’s incredible. Ace Impact is 10 lengths behind Big Rock, and he has beaten him by three and a half lengths. It is extraordinary – his turn of foot and his acceleration is just extraordinary.

“From that day on, Pauline, Kamel [Pauline’s father] and all the team said okay, we have to talk to the owner of this horse and see if we can do something together.

“It’s a big, big deal you know. Stallions are very important for the country – for breeders, trainers and for the sales company. We have seen the likes of Le Havre and Siyouni; these stallions are extremely important for the country. French breeders will be able to use a horse based in France, and foreign breeders will send mares to France to be covered. It’s very important for the country.

“It’s a lot easier now because there are plenty of good farms in France with good people. Breeders are comfortable sending their mares from abroad to French farms. When you have a good stallion you can attract mares from all over the world.”

Global interest

Having recently announced that Ace Impact will commence his new career in the spring at a fee of €40,000, what has been the reaction? Unsurprisingly, the telephone has not stopped ringing, and the interest has been global. Have the team set a target for the number of mares to be covered? Aware of the interest in Ace Impact, Alex is nonetheless cautious, and explains: “It is a decision we have to make, and with a young horse you always have to be careful. He’s going to be a commercial sire, and 140 to 150 mares would be great.”

With Pauline and Mathieu booked in for the Goffs November Sale, it is on the cards that a number of mares will be sourced there for Ace Impact. “We will be in Goffs for some mares,” Pauline said, while Mathieu added that “we will be there and see what happens.

“We bought a couple of mares last year in Goffs and are very happy with them. We have a very good relationship with Irish breeders.” They both agreed that the Niarchos draft will add a special note of interest, though they say “it will not be easy to buy them”.

Sealiway’s bright and busy start at stud

ACE Impact is on the verge of moving to his new home, Haras de Beaumont, close to Deauville. For eight years the Chehboub family owned and ran Haras de la Gousserie in the Loire region, but that has now been sold.

Haras de Beaumont is adjacent to the Head family’s Haras de Quesnay, and part of that historic farm has been purchased to extend Beaumont. Pauline Chehboub is immersed in looking after the racing and stud interests of the family, with the considerable assistance of Mathieu Alex.

Having completed the Irish National Stud management course, Alex went to Coolmore and was involved there for a decade. The call to return to France came about thanks to an opportunity to join Haras de la Cauviniere as manager, home then to Le Havre. “The farm was owned by a friend and we worked together for 10 years. I had first met Kemal when he sent a mare to Galileo in Coolmore where I was, and last year we discussed this new plan. It was obviously very, very exciting.”

Haras de Beaumont has just completed its first breeding season, and was home to three stallions for 2023, Sealiway, Intello and Stunning Spirit. The Group 1 Champion Stakes winner Sealiway has just completed his first season at stud, and boy was he popular at a fee of €12,000. “He was the flat stallion who covered the most mares in France,” a beaming Alex said. “He’s got a lot of things going for him, and we can’t wait to see his first foals being born in January.”

In addition to looks and racecourse performance, Sealiway’s juvenile own-brother Sunway last month won the Group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud from André Fabre’s highly-rated Alcantor.

Setting a fair fee has been a keen objective for the team behind Ace Impact, and they don’t feel the necessity to offer incentives as a consequence. Alex said: “The horse is popular and his fee will be non-negotiable. Other than that, we will see how he gets on in the covering shed, and no decisions have been made about shuttling. We will leave the door open on that”.

Family steeped in the business

IF anyone outside France feels that Ace Impact’s Arc win has suddenly thrown the Chehboub family into the limelight, think again. Their arrival on the biggest stage has been the result of a near lifetime involvement with horses.

Even Pauline has personal claims to a degree of fame, though this was in the show jumping arena. “It’s funny,” she says with a smile, “I was French champion at the age of 16; I was riding horses almost since I was a baby. My father and uncle [Bouzid] are perhaps in the horse industry about 25 years, so we are not new.

“But we have expanded quickly, and become much more involved in recent years. We are very competitive. I don’t compete any more or ride, as I’m focused on the business. We have 60 horses in training. Our success started with Spirit One – he won the Arlington Million [beating Archipenko and Mount Nelson] 15 years ago.”

Two years ago, the Chehboub family had a year to remember, with Sealiway adding the Group 1 Champion Stakes to an eight-length rout of Nando Parrado and Laws Of Indices in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at two. He also chased home St Mark’s Basilica in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby. On Arc weekend in 2021, Rougir got her nose in front in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera, leading to her sale for €3 million at Arqana.

What are Pauline’s memories of that time? “Sure, 2021 was the best year in the horse industry for our family at the time – it was a crazy season. However, we never stopped dreaming, because this year was also crazy, and maybe the best season of our lives. We are currently the leading owners in France.

“That’s a big achievement for us, and we are very proud of that. We have to go on now and breed a champion.”

Leading owners

Not everything in life is gained without some hiccups, and the Chehboub family’s climb to become leading owners year after year suffered a setback when their trainer, Cedric Rossi, had his licence suspended. However, Pauline and her family picked themselves up. “It was our best season racing, and it was not easy at the end because he was our main trainer. However, after two years we are here again and we have a good relationship with Jean-Claude [Rouget]”.

While managing the team of horses in France is a full-time job, Pauline revealed that one day they will probably have horses in training in Ireland. She added: “For the moment what we have is good, as now we are not a big, big team. For the moment we have a good number.”

Success has not gone to their heads either, and their well-proven policy of buying value yearlings will continue. In Jean-Claude Rouget they have a master at finding diamonds in the rough. After all, Rougir and Sealiway cost €55,000 and €62,000 respectively, while Rouget sourced Ace Impact for just €75,000.

What they said

Describe what it felt like to win the Arc

“It was a memorable day, a special day in life to win in France in front of all the public. It was crazy, hard to describe.”

On Ace Impact’s imminent arrival at Beaumont

“He is going to come next week to the farm. We wanted to give him a bit of time after the Arc; the farm is only 10 minutes away from where he is training. We very much look forward to welcoming him, because a lot of people want to see him now.”

The interest in Ace Impact is global

“There have been plenty of enquiries from all over the world, even Japanese and American interest, so it is very exciting. He’s one of the most exciting horses ever to retire in France. For a horse that has never raced outside this country, thanks to his turn of foot and the way he wins his races it has been very clear to the world that he is a very exciting stallion prospect.”

Were the family tempted to race on with him?

“It wasn’t an easy decision, because he’s a champion, he is unbeaten six times, and we love competition. Sometimes you have to make a hard decision and he deserves his chance at stud, and we are proud to give him that chance.”

The importance of the Arc

“English horses came to France, Irish horses, Japanese horses, so the Arc is a great race because it is the world cup final. He [Ace Impact] ran in one of the best races in the world.”