Waltraut Spanner

Jean-Claude Rouget's health issues are well-documented, but at the end of a troubled year the stable favourite Arrow Eagle (Gleneagles) swooped to conquer to raise morale in the G1 Prix Royal-Oak at Saint-Cloud. A highly respectable sixth in the Arc, Waltraut Spanner's homebred half-brother to the illustrious Ace Impact showed no ill-effects of that recent effort when storming by Queenstown (Galileo) and dominating the final furlong. At the line, the 11-5 favourite had registered an authoritative two-length success from that Ballydoyle outsider, with Sevenna's Knight (Camelot) a short head away...

In setting a new record time in last Sunday's Prix du Jockey Club, Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}) became the first Classic winner for his breeder Waltraut Spanner and the first to be raised at Barbara Moser's Haras du Long Champ.  Moser had previously come close to tasting Jockey Club victory as a breeder herself when Patascoy (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) finished second in the 2018 edition, just half a length off Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). "To win a race, any race, is always special, and this victory...