![\"Constitution](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image_70-425x284.png\")
<\/p>\nQatar Prix du Jockey Club<\/p>\n
The O\u2019Brien family dominates at Chantilly\u00a0<\/p>\n
and shines a spotlight on Normandy breeding<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Chantilly Racecourse witnessed a truly rare event during the 186th running of the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (Group 1, the highest level of excellence in horse racing): a clean sweep of the podium by a single trainer, Ireland\u2019s Aidan O\u2019Brien, whose three runners took command of the race as soon as they entered the home straight, battling among themselves and finishing well clear of the other thirteen competitors.<\/p>\n
The winner was\u00a0Constitution River. A son of\u00a0Wootton Bassett, he is trained in Ireland by Aidan O\u2019Brien but was born and bred in France by\u00a0G\u00e9rard Laboureau (LG Bloodstock) at\u00a0Haras du Cadran (Pierre Talvard) in the Orne department of Normandy. The runner-up was\u00a0Hawk Mountain, also by Wootton Bassett, the former Normandy-based stallion who stood at Haras d\u2019Etreham in Calvados before being purchased by Coolmore, the owners of Constitution River. Third place went to\u00a0Montreal.<\/p>\n
To complete the O\u2019Brien family domination, Aidan\u2019s son\u00a0Donnacha O\u2019Brien trained the fourth-placed finisher,\u00a0A Boy Named Susie.<\/p>\n
The first French-trained horse home was\u00a0Alam, trained in Chantilly by\u00a0Mikel Delzangles, who finished fifth.<\/p>\n
Precision planning<\/p>\n
It is often said that victory is prepared in advance. That was certainly the case for Constitution River\u2019s success. Aidan O\u2019Brien is not a man who leaves anything to chance. When his leading contender drew a very unfavorable starting position on Thursday (stall 15 of 16), he immediately began devising a strategy to overcome the handicap. He instructed jockeys\u00a0Wayne Lordan and\u00a0Christophe Soumillon, riders of his other two runners, to force the pace from the outset and take control of the race, allowing\u00a0Ryan Moore, aboard Constitution River, to slot into the first three after racing wide and alone on the outside of the field.<\/p>\n
Thanks to this approach\u2014and to O\u2019Brien\u2019s customary practice of personally walking the track beforehand to identify the best patches of turf\u2014the trainer\u2019s three runners occupied the first three positions throughout the race, dictating a pace that suited them perfectly. Turning into the home straight, after enjoying a clear run around the final bend near the Grandes \u00c9curies, the trio quickened sharply and battled over the final 400 meters, gradually drawing away from the rest of the field in a remarkable stablemate duel.<\/p>\n
For a long time, front-runner\u00a0Montreal refused to yield on the rail, with Wayne Lordan even beginning to believe victory was within reach. Christophe Soumillon, aboard Hawk Mountain, was the first to challenge the leader and briefly thought he might prevail. But Constitution River, charging down the outside, proved simply too strong, leaving the French-based Belgian jockey to settle for second place.<\/p>\n
A second Chantilly clean sweep in a major race<\/p>\n
This is not the first time Aidan O\u2019Brien has filled the first three places in a major French race at Chantilly. In 2016, when the Qatar Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe was temporarily relocated from Longchamp to Chantilly due to redevelopment work, he saddled\u00a0Found,\u00a0Highland Reel, and\u00a0Order of St George to complete the podium.<\/p>\n
Nor was it his first victory in the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club. He previously won the race with\u00a0Camille Pissarro last year and\u00a0St Mark\u2019s Basilica in 2021. Jockey Ryan Moore also recorded his third success in the race, having previously won aboard Camille Pissarro in 2025 and\u00a0The Grey Gatsby in 2014.<\/p>\n
Constitution River started as the race favorite at odds of 3.4\/1 despite his difficult draw in stall 15. Since the race was shortened in distance in 2005, no winner had emerged from that stall position\u2014until Sunday.<\/p>\n
His winning time of\u00a02:03.52 is the third-fastest in the history of the race, behind\u00a0Ace Impact (2:02.63 in 2023) and\u00a0Sottsass (2:02.90 in 2019).<\/p>\n
The victory also gave stallion\u00a0Wootton Bassett his second Qatar Prix du Jockey Club winner, following Camille Pissarro\u2019s success last year.<\/p>\n
Constitution River was purchased by the Coolmore partners, with the ticket signed by\u00a0Michael Vincent Magnier, for\u00a0\u20ac400,000 at the August 2024 Arqana Yearling Sale. He was consigned by Haras du Cadran, where he was born and raised.<\/p>\n
Already successful in the race with The Grey Gatsby in 2014,\u00a0Haras du Cadran, owned by Pierre Talvard, has now become the only commercial breeding operation\u2014as opposed to owner-breeder establishments such as Aga Khan Studs or Wertheimer & Fr\u00e8re\u2014to have produced two winners of the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club since the distance change in 2005.<\/p>\n
Official result<\/p>\n
1st \u2013\u00a0CONSTITUTION RIVER (Ryan Lee Moore)<\/p>\n
2nd \u2013\u00a0HAWK MOUNTAIN (Christophe Soumillon)<\/p>\n
3rd \u2013\u00a0MONTREAL (Wayne Lordan)<\/p>\n
4th \u2013\u00a0A BOY NAMED SUSIE (Maxime Guyon)<\/p>\n
5th \u2013\u00a0ALAM (Antoine Hamelin)<\/p>\n
Time: 2\u201903\u2019\u201952. Margins: \u00be length \u2013 head \u2013 1\u00be lengths \u2013 head \u2013 short head.<\/p>\n
Quotes from the connections<\/p>\n
Aidan O\u2019Brien, trainer of Constitution River (1st), Hawk Mountain (2nd) and Montreal (3rd)<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, I want to thank everyone who looks after these horses and makes results like this possible. So much work goes into achieving something like this. Ryan Moore gave him an incredible ride.<\/p>\n
I knew my three jockeys would talk before the race. They all had a very clear idea of what might happen, but once they\u2019re out there, they have to make their own decisions depending on how the race unfolds.<\/p>\n
Ryan had a terrible draw. We thought it would be very difficult because he\u2019s still a baby, still learning. He went to Chester and won very easily, but today was always going to be a completely different scenario on fast ground from such an outside stall.<\/p>\n
We had eight very good colts and needed to split them between here and Epsom. It made sense for these three to come here and the other four to go to Epsom. We\u2019re simply very grateful, privileged and delighted for everyone involved.<\/p>\n
Constitution River is a big horse and we\u2019ll probably take our time with him. Today was a tough race. He could have a little summer break and come back in the autumn for an Arc trial or something similar. If he comes out of the race particularly well, the Eclipse Stakes are not impossible.<\/p>\n
As for Hawk Mountain, Christophe felt that a pair of blinkers would help him. All three horses had been working well and we hoped they would run big races.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Tabor, co-owner of Constitution River (1st), Hawk Mountain (2nd) and Montreal (3rd)<\/p>\n
\u201cTen years ago, on this very track, our horses finished first, second and third in the Qatar Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe. It\u2019s incredible how quickly time passes.<\/p>\n
To be honest, during the race I was only watching Constitution River and I didn\u2019t even realize we were second, third and fourth. I just kept thinking, \u2018My God, he\u2019s in a fantastic position,\u2019 and it was tremendously exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan Moore, jockey of Constitution River (1st)<\/p>\n
\u201cI simply rode the race as it developed. What I knew was that I was riding a very good horse. He makes life easy for you\u2014he does everything effortlessly. He has plenty of speed, he stays well and he has an excellent temperament. When a horse is that straightforward, the draw becomes less important than it otherwise might have been.<\/p>\n
He was a little keener than usual today. It was probably the first time in his life that he really took hold of the bit. The pace was genuine and I think every horse had its chance.<\/p>\n
The first three were all close to the pace, but the fourth and fifth came from the back of the field.<\/p>\n
I think Constitution River could come back to a mile, and I also think he\u2019ll stay a mile and a half, despite all the speed he possesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
M. V. Magnier, co-owner of Constitution River (1st), Hawk Mountain (2nd) and Montreal (3rd)<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to offer my warmest congratulations to Pierre Talvard. He has supported us for many years and is a good friend. Congratulations as well to his team and everyone at Arqana. It\u2019s wonderful to be able to come to France and buy horses like this at Arqana.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donnacha O\u2019Brien, trainer of A Boy Named Susie (4th)<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very pleased with him. It\u2019s a difficult track when you\u2019ve drawn badly. Maxime did exactly what he needed to do and gave the horse every chance.<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t have the smoothest passage, but he produced a huge performance and I\u2019m really delighted. I genuinely think he\u2019s capable of winning a Group 1. He\u2019s a top-class horse and I believe he\u2019ll continue to improve with age.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll give him a little time, make sure he\u2019s well and has recovered from his effort, but we could look at the Eclipse Stakes or something similar. Yes, I think he\u2019s a very good horse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mikel Delzangles, trainer of Alam (5th) and Dolmalan (6th)<\/p>\n
\u201cAlam had a very difficult draw in stall 16. He doesn\u2019t yet have the experience to force the issue leaving the gates, but he finished very strongly.<\/p>\n
Dolmalan did not break particularly well, according to his jockey Cl\u00e9ment Lec\u0153uvre. He had to use up energy to hold his position, which cost him late on, but he ran well too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Qatar Prix du Jockey Club The O\u2019Brien family dominates at Chantilly\u00a0 and shines a spotlight on Normandy breeding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-469539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}