Item won the Juddmonte International Stakes at York | report, reaction and replay

The 10 furlong Group 1 was billed as a match between last year's winner Ombudsman and the leading three-year-old elect Constitution River but the race didn't go according to the script.

Rain at the start of the week was in favour of the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Almaqam while Item was unbeaten in two starts on the Knavesmire this season having struggled in a heavy ground Derby at Epsom in between.

Outsider Pride Of Arras was a mandatory withdrawal before the stalls opened having put his near fore over the gate but once the remainder broke there were more surprises to follow.

Hawk Mountain, trained by Aidan O'Brien, went to the front with Devil's Advocate in close attendance but wider on the track were Constitution River and Ryan Moore, seemingly quite lit up in the early stages as he had reportedly been on the way to post. Ombudsman, meanwhile, was last and caught in a pocket between Action and Item.

Moore settled Constitution River in second with Devil's Advocate taken back into third but the race changed complexion quickly at the top of the straight with the field only covered by a handful of lengths as Hawk Mountain weakened quickly.

Item made ground up the inside but there was room against the rail and William Buick made a brave move to grab that gap aboard Ombudsman and the pair got involved in a barging match. Almaqam, who had raced in fourth, was making smooth ground more towards the middle and enjoying a clear run while Constitution River paid for his early exertions.

Almaqam went a couple of lengths clear and looked to have a famous victory within his grasp only for Item to engage his long, raking stride and mow him down in the shadow of the post.

The winning margin was a head with the pair pulling three and a half lengths clear of Constitution River in third.

Sky Bet and Paddy Power cut Item to 16/1 from 33 for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp in October.

Racing TV caught up with Item's trainer, Andrew Balding, before the horses had returned to the winner's enclosure and the Lambourn handler told them: "A big thank you to the team at home because we had a late scare with one of his feet and they've been up all night seeing to him and they've done an amazing job. Forty eight hours ago we declared but it was an iffy one and it's come good due to their hard work.

"I liked the way we were travelling but I didn't like the way we didn't have a lot of room. To be honest with you, I would have been gutted if he had got beaten because to me, he travelled like the best horse in the race and had to work a little harder to get his run, but he's very tough and a very good horse."

Rider Colin Keane didn't feel that Item travelled as well as it looked from the stands, saying: "For a long way I was never really happy but maybe that was just the slow ground, it wasn't as slow as Epsom but he never really felt comfortable on it for most of the way round, I struggled.

"It wasn't really until William joined down his inner between the four and the three and that actually set him alight. He probably lacked a gear to get in between Ryan and Kieran [Shoemark], had to come around them, but I loved what he did in the last furlong, strong to the line, he feels like a horse who will go back up in trip and that's when you will see the best of him. It's a long way up here and it took every inch of the straight."

Reaction from connections of the beaten horses

Ed Walker said of Almaqam: "Pretty tough one but you dream of being involved in races like this and training horses like this and a huge thanks to Sheikh Ahmed for sending him to me.

"He's a Group 1 winner and he's nearly won a Juddmonte, probably one of the best races we've seen this season. I'm proud of him, I'm pleased he's shown how good he is; when he gets his conditions he is exceptional. He was a big, backward two-year-old, we gave him time at three and at four he had one of the driest summers of all time and at five he's had an even drier summer. So, it's been really, really hard and he's been difficult to train, hard to keep him on the go and not run.

"It's a tough one but we're very proud. He's got two more big races left assuming he'll be retired to stud at the end of the year and I hope he will be retired to Dalham Hall because he deserves to be, he's a beautiful horse. He's a very special horse, great temperament. I think 10 is his trip and he could go to the Irish Champion and Champion."

O'Brien said: "It didn't work as we thought. We thought John's [Gosden] pacemaker [Devil's Advocate] would go on and our pacemaker [Action] would follow but John's pacemaker didn't go and our pacemaker missed the break so that left Wayne [Lordan] in front on a lazy type of horse, that's why he wears the cheekpieces, so he found it hard to judge the pace in front on that ground and he felt he ended up going a little bit too quick.

"Ryan was up in second with John's pacemaker on his outside, keeping him honest, and because of that Ryan ended up getting there a little bit earlier than he wanted to get and he was a little bit lit up early and he was in a gear that was a little bit too high. He stumbled at the path and it lit him up.

"Because it's a while since he ran and all that went wrong, he got a little bit tired and because of all that he got beat. It just didn't work for us on the day, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

"I'm delighted for the winner and the second and we were delighted he ran a very good race. We think both the horses will come forward for their next runs."

The 5/6 favourite Ombudsman finished fifth and Gosden said: "Quite frankly we thought Action would go forward, he didn't, he got held back and he was outside us the whole way.

"They've gone a strong pace and I think they've rather set it up for others.

"Our horse was not happy on the ground, he's not a soft ground horse. Nobody's fault. They've done a beautiful job with the track but they got the rain and they're going to get more tonight, tomorrow but all the jockeys, even the winner, said soft, fresh but soft and I'm afraid he doesn't act on that.

"He's got this explosive turn of foot and he couldn't use it. He tried hard and he had to wriggle through the inside because he wasn't given much room - something I alluded to - and, to that extent, I think he's run a great race but not happy on the ground.

"We'll go looking for the right ground, if we travel, we travel. The Breeders' Cup Turf is something we've had in mind. There's a very nice mile and a quarter race in Japan, those kind of things, before stud duties beckon."

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