Constitution River and Ryan Moore win the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (Photo: Zuzanna Lupa)
Breandán Ó hUallacháin
Aidan O’Brien claimed an incredible 1-2-3 in the French Derby at Chantilly on Sunday, as Constitution River led home his stable companions Hawk Mountain and Montreal.
Inrcedibly, his younger son Donnacha, trained the fourth-place finisher – not only completing a 1-2-3-4 for Irish-trained horses but also for the O’Brien family.
It was a 1-2 for Coolmore’s late stallion, Wootton Bassett, as the stallion achieved a Prix du Jockey Club winner for the second successive year – Camille Pissarro having taken the honours last season.
Bad Draw for Race Favourite
Drawn unfavourably in gate 15 of 16, Constitution River, the mount of Ryan Moore, started the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club as 12/5 favourite. A winner of the Listed Dee Stakes over one mile two-and-a-half furlongs at Chester, England, on his previous racecourse appearance, Constitution River was supported in the race by stablemates Hawk Mountain, previously a winner of the Prix de Guiche at Chantilly, and Montreal, runner-up in the Prix de Suresnes at the same track in a key trial for the French Derby.
Montreal – a son of former Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Sea The Stars – and last season’s Epsom Derby-winning rider Wayne Lordan set the early pace in the ten-and-a-half furlong Group 1 race, with Hawk Mountain and Christophe Soumillon nearby.
Constitution River and Ryan Moore were soon prominent, with the pair forced to travel wide of the field before managing to move across the track to reach their stable companions on the rail. The Ballydoyle-trained colts, all owned by the Coolmore partners, were soon in control of the race, and dominated from then on.
Ballydoyle Trio In Control
With the Aidan O’Brien trio in charge, they soon put space between themselves and the remainder of the field. The three Irish-trained horses battled it out in the final stages of the race, with Moore on the French-bred Constitution River, out of a full-sister to dual Group 1 winner Wonderful Tonight, saluting the judge in first place, three-quarters-of-a-length ahead of Hawk Mountain, winner of the Group 1 Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, England, as a juvenile. Montreal, who had produced so much of the early work stayed on for third place, just a head behind the runner-up.
Next home was the Donnacha O’Brien-trained Group 1 Critérium de Saint-Cloud runner-up in 2025, Starspangledbanner’s A Boy Named Sue, one and three-quarter lengths behind Montreal.
Connections’ Reactions
M.V. Magnier, son of Coolmore supremo John Magnier, spoke of the impressive win of Constitution River, stating:
“Ryan (Moore) gave him a great ride – he’s probably the best jockey in the world, so we’re very lucky to have a good relationship with him. For Aidan to get the one-two-three is incredible and he thinks Constitution River could be something different. He’s done it today against the odds and now he has to keep doing it.”
It was a third success in the premier French classic for Ballydoyle trainer O’Brien, who only won the contest for the first time with St Mark’s Basilica, now a Coolmore Stud stallion, in 2021.
The successful handler gave his reaction to Sky Sports Racing, admitting:
“It was a solidly-run race which gave everybody a chance. Ryan (Moore, jockey) said he was green and he had to learn a lot on quick ground. He came off the bridle sooner than he expected, but he didn’t surrender, he kept coming so you’d have to be very impressed. He’s a big, powerful horse who will definitely improve. He has loads of scope and is very exciting. The second and third are two very good horses also and we knew Donnacha (O’Brien, trainer) really fancied his horse who was fourth.”
Constitution River is a third French Derby winner for Wootton Bassett since the sire was first successful with Almanzor in 2016.
So far this season, Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore partners have won five classic in three different countries: the Betfred 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, England, the Poule d’Essais des Pouliches [French 1000 Guineas] at ParisLongchamp, the Tattersalls 1000 and 2000 Guineas at The Curragh, Ireland, and the Prix du Jockey Club [French Derby] at Chantilly.
