Minor setback puts Desert Crown’s King George run into question

Stoute reports Derby hero to be suffering a ‘little niggle’ in his foot.

Derby winner Desert Crown has suffered a minor injury which could put his participation in next weekend’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in doubt.

An impressive Classic winner, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained son of Nathaniel is unbeaten in three starts following his romp at Epsom.

However, the Saeed Suhail-owned colt, who was odds-on in some places for the the mile-and-a-half showpiece at Ascot on Saturday week, was a market drifter on Wednesday afternoon, with Coral eventually suspending their market

Desert Crown became the second Saeed Suhail-owned colt trained by Stoute to prevail in the Derby following Kris Kin’s success in 2003.

Hopes were high he would frank the Derby form, locking horns again with subsequent Irish Derby winner Westover, who had finished two and three-quarters of a length behind him in third at Epsom.

However, Stoute told the PA news agency: “He won’t be working tomorrow morning.

“We just have a little niggle that we are checking out on his foot.”

Asked about the specifics of the injury and whether he had a stone bruise, Stoute said: “Who knows?”

He added: “We are just checking him out.

“So, we will have more news on Friday or Saturday. It is too early to say whether he will run in the King George. We can’t make a decision now.”

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