Derby hero Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) has been withdrawn from Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International after injuring himself during a workout on Sunday morning, according to owner Saeed Suhail's racing manager Bruce Raymond.
“[He] pulled up lame after breezing this morning; [he's] being assessed at [the] equine hospital, [his] career [is] in balance,” Raymond told racing broadcaster Nick Luck on Sunday.
A winner at first asking at two, the Sir Michael Stoute trainee swept the G2 Dante S. over the Knavesmire last May and won the Derby by 2 1/2 lengths that June. An ankle injury kept the son of Desert Berry (GB) (Green Desert) away from the races for almost a year until his second-place finish in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. at Sandown on May 25. He was similarly on course for Royal Ascot but sustained a setback. After recovering, the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. was his next target, but Desert Crown contracted a leg infection which ruled him out of that Ascot showpiece.
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