Item is a thrilling winner of the Juddmonte International Gr.1

At the end of Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International Stakes, there was a star three-year-old in charge as the Item (Frankel) landed in front when it mattered.

Taken from Thoroughbred Daily News, 20th August 2026

With Constitution River over-racing from the start, this was always going to fall to a closer and while for much of the finale it looked as if Almaqam would clinch it for the older brigade, Item found a decisive surge for Colin Keane to overhaul him in the dying strides and win by a head. Constitution River paid for his early exertions, finishing 3 1/2 lengths away in third as the favourite Ombudsman could manage only fourth.

“We've pitched him in some good races with the belief that he will do well in them, but he's kept improving and improved physically and that's the most important thing,” Trainer Andrew Balding said.

“Physically he's really a very different horse than the one that ran in the Dante and I think anything is possible–he would certainly have no problem staying a mile and a half if we wanted him to."

Jockey Colin Keane thinks he can do even better with conditions more in his favour, “at no point was I comfortable to be honest–not until William [Buick] came to me and he got between horses and that really got

him going,” his rider said. “He struggled on this slow ground and I was never really happy, but when he got levelled up you'd love what he did in his last furlong–I was really motoring.”

“He feels like a horse who will go back up in trip and that's when you'll see the best of him,” he added. “I thought he'd travel smoother and it took every inch of the straight for him to get there. It is soft ground and loose and he'd be better on a sounder surface. He's a specialist around here, he seems to love it.”