Constitution River wins Coral-Eclipse as Aidan O’Brien sets record 10th victory

Constitution River delivered the clearest signal of the European summer so far at Sandown Park, stretching away to win the Coral-Eclipse by about three lengths and give Aidan O’Brien a record 10th victory in the race. In a seven-runner Eclipse that served as one of the first major 10-furlong clashes between the generations, Ryan Moore never looked in trouble aboard the 8-11 favorite as Constitution River handled older horses for the first time and still looked a class apart.

The Wootton Bassett colt has built his season the hard way and the right way. He won two of three juvenile starts, returned to land the Dee Stakes at Chester, then stepped up again five weeks ago to lead a Ballydoyle one-two-three in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly. At Sandown, he made that form line look even stronger, with Donnacha O’Brien’s A Boy Named Susie chasing him home in second and Hawk Mountain taking third.

For O’Brien, the race fit a pattern that has become familiar at Sandown as much as it marked a milestone. Giant’s Causeway, Hawk Wing and City Of Troy are among the horses who had already carried him to Eclipse success, and Constitution River extended that run with the same kind of progression O’Brien has long favored: a talented 3-year-old, hardened in the spring, then unleashed when the weight-for-age edge matters most in midsummer.

O’Brien said afterward that Constitution River “has to be the best of our three-year-olds.” Moore’s verdict was just as emphatic, with the rider saying he had not been sure he had ever ridden a better horse. Those are bold words, but the performance backed them up, with Constitution River lengthening clear in the final stages and leaving the seven-runner field strung out behind him.

The result also sharpened the shape of the 10-furlong division for the months ahead. With the French Derby winner now unbeaten in three starts this season and already proven at Chester, Chantilly and Sandown, Constitution River has moved from promising Ballydoyle colt to the horse others must now measure themselves against.