£1million race sees Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore make history
The dream team of Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore were celebrating once again
Constitution River cemented his burgeoning reputation with an imperious performance in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.
After claiming victory in two of his three juvenile outings, the Wootton Bassett colt demolished his competition on his return at Chester's Dee Stakes. The bold decision to send him to France for his Derby challenge proved inspired, as he spearheaded a Ballydoyle one-two-three in the Prix du Jockey Club just five weeks prior.
Aidan O'Brien also brought Chantilly runner-up Hawk Mountain and pacemaker Flushing Meadows to the contest in pursuit of his 10th Eclipse triumph, yet the race, worth £1million, belonged to just one horse. The 8-11 favourite Constitution River unleashed his full power once let loose, storming three lengths ahead of the pursuing field under Ryan Moore to give the trainer-jockey combination their fourth successive victory in the race.
Donnacha O'Brien's French Derby fourth-place finisher, A Boy Named Susie, bettered that showing with a powerful late surge to claim second place, while Hawk Mountain had to settle for third.
O'Brien said: "We're over the moon with him, we've always thought the world of him. We think he's a special horse.
"He'll have no problem from a mile to a mile and a half. Ryan said he doesn't think he's ridden a better horse, you can go anywhere.
"We felt that we hadn't seen the bottom of him. He loves racing, he's classy and pacey and we're delighted with him."
Moore added: "We went hard early and a few went forward. Round the bend I had to work out where I was going to make my challenge and the horses in front came back to him quickly.
"You can't be waiting up the hill here. When you go, you go, and he's a very high-class horse. He's got an awful lot of ability and he's done nothing wrong throughout his career. The way the race panned out, too, he could've been even better."
Paddy Power reacted to Constitution River's win by cutting his odds for the Juddmonte International at York into 5-2 from 5/1.
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