Derby winner Desert Crown pleasing connections at home Desert Crown is pleasing connections at home following an injury which ruled him out of Royal Ascot. Sir Michael Stoute's Derby winner has run only once since Epsom, which resulted in a shock defeat by Hukum at Sandown in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes. He impressed in his work at home when preparing for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Frankie Dettori was booked to be on board, but just over a week beforehand connections were dealt a blow. Following a routine piece of work, he was giving off cause for concern and while it was a minor setback, the son of Nathaniel was unable to go to Ascot. Philip Robinson, owner Saeed Suhail’s assistant racing manager, said: “He’s started cantering, having been walking all last week, and is all is good. “Nothing showed up on any scans or X-rays or anything, so it must have just been a bruise or something like that which just set him back 10 days. “I’m not sure where he’ll run, I wouldn’t have thought Sir Michael will rush him back, he’ll just take his time and when he’s back in full work then he’ll make a plan. “It was just one of those really unfortunate things that happens with horses, but they are athletes and these things happen.”
