Aidan O'Brien is adamant that Constitution River can bounce back from the "complete mess" of the Juddmonte International when he lines up in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday week.
The Wootton Bassett colt had enjoyed an unblemished record, triumphing in the Dee Stakes at Chester, the French Derby and the Coral-Eclipse, setting up a mouth-watering showdown with reigning champion Ombudsman in York's prestigious Group 1 contest. However, both favourites were overshadowed at the Knavesmire, with Constitution River finishing third and Ombudsman fourth behind Andrew Balding's Item.
O'Brien accepts responsibility for York defeat
O'Brien has shouldered the blame for his talented three-year-old's disappointing performance after his intended pacemaker Action missed the break and failed to play any meaningful role, leaving both Constitution River and stablemate Hawk Mountain vulnerable at the front.
"It was just a bit of a mess really the last day, everything that could go wrong went wrong," the trainer explained during an Irish Champions Festival press morning at Ballydoyle on Monday.
"I have to ultimately accept the responsibility for it because I put in the pacemaker that wasn't good enough. We thought if he wouldn't go the other horse of John's (Devil's Advocate) would go, but obviously they didn't have any intention of going.
"It just goes to show with one bad decision what can happen. Because of that the whole race changed and Constitution River ended up a bit too forward because there wasn't enough pace in front of him and he was in a gear too high – it was all just a complete mess really."
Trainer confident colt can leave York behind
O'Brien is determined to prevent a recurrence, even contemplating bringing in a supplementary pacemaker if necessary to ensure the right conditions.
He added: "Constitution River is in good form, he seems to have come out of the race (at York) well.
"We always thought the world of this horse, his only blip was the last day and I would be very confident it wasn't his fault. We're hoping he'll leave that run behind him and we're very happy with him since.
"We'd like to have something else that could make it for them so Hawk Mountain wouldn't have to be as forward. Hopefully we'll have something that might be able to go in there. We have horses that are not it but we could have to supplement. Hopefully we won't make the same mistake twice."
