Desert Crown to miss Juddmonte International at York after suffering injury in morning exercise

Desert Crown will miss a potential clash with Paddington and Mostahdaf in the Juddmonte International at York on Wednesday after sustaining an injury on the gallops on Sunday morning.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained four-year-old pulled up lame after morning exercise and has been taken to the Newmarket Equine Hospital.

Bruce Raymond, racing manager to owner Saeed Suhail, said on Sunday: "He's got quite a bad injury and I'm just heading to the equine hospital now. He won't be running at York."

Desert Crown’s career has been littered with setbacks. A leg infection ruled him out of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot last month, while he missed the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at the royal meeting due to a minor setback.

A foot injury ruled him of last year’s King George and curtailed his three-year-old campaign following his Derby success at Epsom.

Desert Crown has made one start this year, finishing second to subsequent King George scorer Hukum in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown in May. That was just his fourth run in a career that began at Nottingham in November 2021.

Star three-year-old Paddington was cut to 8-15 favourite (from 8-13) with bet365 for the £1 million race following Desert Crown’s omission, with Prince of Wales’s winner Mostahdaf shortened to 5-2 (from 10-3). There could be a field of up to six with Shadwell not intending to run Alflaila. 

Juddmonte International, 3.35 York, August 23 

bet365: 8-15 Paddington, 5-2 Mostahdaf, 12 Alflaila, 14 Nashwa, 16 The Foxes, 25 Bay Bridge, 100 Point Lonsdale

Azure Blue out of Nunthorpe

Another horse missing the Ebor festival is Azure Blue, who will have to wait for her next foray into Group 1 company after a setback ruled her out of the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes at York on Friday. 

The four-year-old filly, who claimed the Duke of York Stakes on her last start at the track, did not feature at the confirmation stage for the £500,000 sprint contest on Saturday after pulling off a shoe in the paddock, with the incident leading to a foot sore that came too soon before the Group 1 event. 

Trainer Michael Dods said: "It's obviously disappointing but it was on confirmation day for the race and it was an easy decision because the last thing you want to do is take any chances ahead of a Group 1 race. 

"We were hoping she'd be okay to take her chance but there will be plenty more opportunities for her."

Azure Blue (left): ruled out of the Nunthorpe after pulling a shoe on SaturdayCredit: Mark Cranham

Owned by Peter Appleton and Anne Elliott, Azure Blue has won two of her three starts this season, striking at Listed level at Newmarket before causing a 12-1 upset when defeating Nunthorpe favourite Highfield Princess at York's Dante meeting.

She suffered her sole defeat this term when sixth in the July Cup last month, finishing ten lengths behind winner Shaquille under Paul Mulrennan. 

Her next appearance could come over six furlongs in the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on September 9, for which she is best-priced at 14-1, while a drop to five furlongs is also an option in the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh a day later. 

Highfield Princess remains a warm order to repeat her success in the Nunthorpe after Saturday's confirmations, in which the field was whittled down to 19 runners with Molecomb Stakes winner Big Evs supplemented.

Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes, 3.35 York, August 25

bet365: 11-8 Highfield Princess, 4 Bradsell, 6 Big Evs, 9 Dramatised, 10 Regional, 12 Twilight Calls, 20 Khaadem, Equality, Art Power, 25 bar

Read more

York prepared for drop in crowd numbers with rail strike set to hit Ebor card on Saturday 

'It was like a piece of work' - York could be next after dream ride Muscika plunders feature sprint 

Roger Varian to give King Of Steel 'more time' and miss York in favour of Irish Champion Stakes 

Sign up here. Minimum deposit requirement. Free bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Minimum odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators that our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing.