Desert Crown gallop verdict: this was not a Frankel and the train moment, but it was up there

Desert Crown is used to being at the forefront of the action and last year's Derby winner looked like clockwork when first up the all-weather Al Bahathri Polytrack under Ryan Moore at precisely 7.11am.

Precision timing mattered more than usual in Newmarket on Wednesday morning due to an extra maintenance slot on the gallop, and the lights on the tractor harrowing the track were still flashing as Desert Crown stepped on to the one-mile gallop in the familiar slipstream of his old friend Solid Stone (Gary Corney).

What happened next was of great interest.