King George bid in balance for Desert Crown after Derby hero suffers setback

Derby winner Desert Crown's rematch with Westover in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot is in doubt after the Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt was revealed to have suffered a setback.

The son of Nathaniel was easy to back on the exchanges and ante-post markets on Wednesday afternoon before Coral took the measure of suspending their betting on the Group 1 event on Saturday week.

Owner Saeed Suhail's colt was due to work on Thursday morning but that key gallop has been called off.

'Hopefully it's not too bad'

Bruce Raymond, racing manager for Suhail, said on Wednesday: "It's in the foot, it's not a joint and it's not a tendon, so hopefully it's not too bad.

"I think if it were a lesser horse we'd just leave him in the box, but because of who he is they're being extra cautious and will check him tomorrow and scan the foot.

"In my opinion he's fit enough to be able to miss a few days. I don't know what Michael [Stoute] thinks about it but he's a very fit horse, although he wouldn't want to miss too much and he wants to be working on Saturday, that's for sure.

"Michael will make a decision on Saturday. I was alarmed because I thought, 'can he miss this amount of work?', but I don't think Michael is too worried about fitness levels – he's more worried about what's going on in the foot. If he works on Saturday, then everything is okay."

Desert Crown: gave Sir Michael Stoute his sixth Derby win in emphatic fashion at EpsomCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Desert Crown gave Stoute his sixth Derby win in emphatic fashion at Epsom in June, when Westover finished an unlucky third, and bypassed a crack at the Irish equivalent to wait for Ascot.

All had seemed well as recently as last Saturday when Richard Kingscote rode the unbeaten colt in a piece of work on the Cambridge Road Polytrack where he worked a mile with his usual lead horse Solid Stone.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes (Ascot, July 23)

Coral (before betting was suspended): 4-5 Desert Crown, 11-4 Westover, 5 Mishriff, 7 Torquator Tasso, 8 Emily Upjohn, 12 Broome, 14 Alenquer, 16 Pyledriver, 20 Addeybb, Stone Age, 25 bar

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