'I've never ridden a horse who accelerated like that' - meet the jockey well suited to the pressure of an Arc favourite

Given the race looked a penalty kick to most onlookers, there was a notable air of tension around the team before Ace Impact's prep run in the Prix Guillaume d'Ornano in mid-August.

With the whole of French racing decamped to Deauville for the month, it was almost impossible not to see the pressure etched across the features of trainer Jean-Claude Rouget and his right-hand man Jean-Bernard Roth; of Kamel and Pauline Chehboub, whose Gousserie Racing had just bought a half-share in the horse, and their stud manager at Haras de Beaumont, Matthieu Alex; and of the unbeaten Prix du Jockey Club winner's original owner Serge Stempniak.

The tension could easily have transmitted to Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe favourite, whose class co-exists with plenty of nervous tension in the moments before a race. Fortunately, however, Ace Impact had just the right man on board to calm things down in Cristian Demuro.