Aidan O'Brien's Constitution River has been retired to stud following an end-of-season veterinary check.
The three-year-old won the Prix du Jockey Club and Coral-Eclipse before being beaten in the Juddmonte International, Irish Champion Stakes and Champion Stakes, but was pencilled in to return to training at Ballydoyle as a four-year-old.
He will now go to Coolmore to start his stallion duties instead.
O'Brien told the Coolmore website: "It's incredibly disappointing. At the end of every year, we do a routine veterinary MOT on all the horses, and unfortunately, they found a lesion on his left front tendon.
“There was no guarantee he would be ready for his major targets next year and we never want to push them or take any chances, so the right thing to do is retire him now.
"To be honest, he was the horse we were most looking forward to staying in training next year. Both ourselves and Ryan [Moore] thought he was one of the most brilliant three-year-olds we've had here, but that’s life unfortunately, and he has done more than enough to earn his place in the stallion yard."
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Welcoming the new addition, Coolmore’s Director of Sales, David O’Loughlin, said: “It is disappointing not to see him run on and perform to the best that everyone knew he was capable of, but we are absolutely delighted to have him in the stallion yard. He is a phenomenal physical specimen. To overcome a nightmare draw in stall 15 to win the stallion-making Prix du Jockey Club showed real class, and his performance in the Coral-Eclipse was exceptional. He is a serious talent with a proper stallion’s pedigree, and breeders are going to love him.”
By sire of sires Wootton Bassett, Constitution River is the first foal out of a sister to multiple Group 1-winning champion Wonderful Tonight, from the family of Champion Sire Camelot. He will stand for a fee of €25,000.
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