Just days after Frankie Dettori was confirmed to be coming in for the ride at Royal Ascot, Desert Crown has been ruled out of the Prince of Wales's Stakes due to a training setback.
A full-scale gamble took place on the 2022 Derby hero and recent Brigadier Gerard Stakes runner-up in the antepost market for the day-two feature at the Royal meeting following a reported gallop in Newmarket and the confirmation that Dettori - who will be riding at his final Royal Ascot - was to replace Richard Kingscote in the saddle in midweek.
However, there were negative vibes around the horse come Sunday morning, with several bookmakers easing his price, and it emerged that Desert Crown had been found to be lame following a routine canter under Ted Durcan on Saturday.
Asked if all was well with the colt, Stoute said: “No. He’s not running, no. He’s a non-runner."
Desert Crown cruised to success in the premier Classic last June, but picked up an ankle injury and was not seen again until reappearing in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown in May.
Though he looked better than ever beforehand, he was defeated in the dying strides by last season’s Coronation Cup winner Hukum, who was similarly coming back after a year on the sidelines.
Bruce Raymond, racing manager to owner Saeed Suhail, added: “I knew they weren’t happy with him yesterday morning. He worked well on Wednesday. He doesn’t usually work like a rocket. His general work practice is to go steady early and to quicken.
“I didn’t see him yesterday. He worked nicely and I believe it was on his own. His final gallop was going to be next Tuesday or Wednesday with Dettori on him.
“I thought he won’t be doing too much. That was at 10 o’clock in the morning. At 12 o’clock, I heard he was a bit lame. They were having a good look at him. Injuries so close this time to the race mean you don’t take chances.”
Sky Bet's revamped market sees the Charlie Appleby-trained Adayar the new 7/4 favourite ahead of Luxembourg at 9/4 and Desert Crown's stablemate Bay Bridge 4/1. My Prospero is 6/1 and French contender Simca Mille 16/1.
Luxembourg won the Tattersalls Gold Cup from Bay Bridge last month, and his Ballydoyle handler Aidan O'Brien reported him on course for Ascot.
“The plan is to go for the Prince of Wales’s. Everything so far is going well,” said O’Brien, speaking after saddling the exciting Pearls And Rubies to victory at Navan on Sunday.
“What was good the last day was it showed that he didn’t mind being ridden in front if he had to be. (We have) options.”
Confirmed entries for the Prince of Wales's Stakes will be published on Friday, June 16.
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