Aidan O’Brien continued his domination of the Classic trials at Chester when Constitution River won the Boodles Raindance Dee Stakes with real authority on Thursday.
On a controversial afternoon on the Roodee when the second race was delayed by over an hour due to a track inspection, the field for the Derby trial was weakened by the withdrawal of the William Haggas-trained Morshdi, with connections unhappy with ground conditions.
O’Brien was happy to run his son of Wootton Bassett, however, and having landed the Cheshire Oaks with Amelia Earhart and the Chester Vase with Benvenuto Cellini, Constitution River justified 2-9 favouritism with the minimum of fuss.
Whereas Golden Story struggled with the twists and turns, the Ballydoyle inmate, a Group Two winner last season, travelled as if on rails for Ryan Moore, beating Generic by seven lengths.