Aidan O'Brien's stranglehold on the key races at Chester's May Festival continued as Constitution River swept his rivals aside in the Boodles Raindance Dee Stakes.
The 10-furlong Listed race lost some of its lustre after Morshdi was declared a non-runner soon after the lengthy delay following race one on Thursday, but Ryan Moore's mount Constitution River could hardly have been more impressive in the five-runner field.
Settled in third early on, he got a lovely split on the inside rail as the front-running Shayem drifted out and Constitution River pounced when asked to quickened, putting the race to bed in a matter of strides.
He bounded away from Andrew Balding's Generic (22/1) who could only box on at the one pace, finishing seven lengths adrift of the impressive Ballydoyle raider.
O'Brien was backing up Wednesday's victories in the Chester Vase and Cheshire Oaks with Benvenuto Cellino and Amelia Earhart respectively and Paddy Power and Sky Bet reacted by cutting Constitution River to 12/1 (from 16s) for the Betfred Derby at Epsom.
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Moore said on ITV Racing: "[The race went] very smoothly. He's a very good horse I think. It was [like a bit of work].
"He's a Wootton Bassett, big strong horse, gorgeous horse. I love everything he's done today, he has a good future. Both [this winner and Benvenuto Cellini] handled it [the track] fine. Two very good horses."
It was a 13th career success in the Dee Stakes for O'Brien and ninth for jockey Moore.
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