Timeform have revealed that the victory of Constitution River in Thursday's Listed Dee Stakes at Chester ranks as one of the very best performances in a classic trial for many a year, with the son of Wootton Bassett earning a rating of 124p.
The withdrawal of second favourite Morshdi left Constitution River to go off at odds of 2/9, the sort of price that suggested we wouldn't learn much. However, such fears proved completely wide of the mark as the Ballydoyle runner dismissed his four rivals by seven lengths, with the clock very much backing up the visual impression.
His performance is at least as good as those achieved by Casual Conquest (123) at Leopardstown, Cape Blanco (122) at York and Sir Dragonet (122) in the Chester Vase this century, all of whom went on to win at least one Group 1.
Timeform's lead Flat analyst David Johnson said, “It's impossible to escape the conclusion that we saw something out of the ordinary in the Dee Stakes where Constitution River ran out a seven-length winner in a race record time under conditions that were faster than the official.
“Aidan O'Brien has dominated the Chester trials for several years now – this was his fifth Dee Stakes in a row and his eighth in the last nine runnings – and this latest one served notice of the arrival of a potential new star on the scene.
“The yard probably have more suitable candidates for Epsom, the Vase winner Benvenuto Cellini for one, but Constitution River is surely a Group 1 winner in waiting at around a mile-and-a-quarter. The prospect of a match-up with 2,000 Guineas winner Bow Echo further down the line is a mouthwatering one.”
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