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The success of Ace Impact in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club and subsequent Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano win was a significant moment – both for the stallion career of sire Cracksman and the broodmare prospects of dam Absolutly Me.
Victorious in four Group 1s at three and four, Cracksman retired to Darley's Dalham Hall Stud as the highest rated (130) offspring of Frankel – a record that remains with him, despite the subsequent exploits 'Arc' heroine Alpinista, runaway Prince of Wales's Stakes victor Mostahdef and Derby winner Adayar. Despite his lofty rating, Cracksman earnt a stud fee of £25,000 on his debut season in 2019.
Although the stud fee would appear reasonable compared to Cracksman's achievements, it was vastly superior to his contemporaries and Darley were probably concerned that the colt's victories over twelve furlongs had tipped him precariously into National Hunt stallion territory. Both Wings Of Eagles and Capri, who beat Cracksman in the Derby and Irish Derby, eventually joined the National Hunt arm of Coolmore's vast breeding operation and stood for 5,000 and 12,000 euros respectively in their first season as a sire. Cracksman's old foe Poet's Word joined Nunnery Stud in 2019 for £7,000 whilst Crystal Ocean was also picked up by Coolmore for National Hunt purposes, standing for 8,000 euros at Beeches Stud in 2020.
A Classic winner in a first crop certainly justifies the price tag, and Cracksman has given a significant boost to the page of Ace Impact's dam Absolutly Me. Originally hailing from a Shadwell line, Absolutly Me (Anabaa Blue) was Listed placed in Germany and recorded only one victory in sixteen starts. As the only Black Type performer out of Shadwell's Tadawul, the mare was sent to stud at the end of her four-year-old campaign and was an immediate success. Her 2015 foal Apollo Flight (Rock Of Gibraltar) placed at Listed level as a three and four-year old, whilst the 2016 foal Alabaa (Motivator) achieved earnings of nearly £90,000 in France.
Absolutly Me was sent to the stallion Australia (who boasted a stud fee of 35,000 euros at the time) in 2017 and produced Alessandro. Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, he was un-raced as a juvenile but did not finish out of the top two in his four starts during the three-year-old campaign. A useful performer on the all-weather, Alessandro achieved a career-best when finishing second in the Listed Grand Prix de la Riviera Cote d'Azur at Cagnes-sur-Mer in early 2022.
Bought for 75,000 euros at the 2021 Arqana Yearling Sale, Ace Impact has paid back his price tag ten times over, accumulating over a million euros in prize money after five unbeaten starts for trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. The current favourite for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October, Ace Impact's performance on the track will continue to shape the future of Cracksman as a commercial sire and improve the fortunes of dam Absolutly Me.