'We plan to have him back for the autumn' - injured Luxembourg out of the Derby

Aidan O'Brien has announced that longtime ante-post favourite Luxembourg is out of next month's Cazoo Derby after suffering a muscular injury.

The Ballydoyle trainer revealed on Friday that last year’s Vertem Futurity winner, who had been as short as 7-4 for the Derby, had met with a setback and faced a race against time to be fit for the Epsom Classic on June 4.

Subsequent tests have laid bare the extent of the injury suffered and the three-year-old Camelot colt, who finished third in the 2,000 Guineas on his seasonal comeback, now faces a spell away from the track before a planned return in the autumn.

Cazoo Derby (4.30 Epsom June 4): all entries and latest betting

O'Brien said: "He won't run in the Derby. The tests revealed he has a muscular issue behind and he will need a month-to-six-weeks box rest to let it heal. We have to do the right thing by the horse and the plan is to have him back for the autumn."

Aidan O'Brien: still has a number of leading contenders for Epsom glory

The news comes as a significant blow at the end of a sensational week for O'Brien and stable jockey Ryan Moore, who still have a strong Derby squad to fall back on after dominating the week's major trials.

It did not take long for the void left by Luxembourg's absence to be filled, and Stone Age was slashed to 3-1 favouritism for the Derby after a commanding victory in Leopardstown's Derby Trial.

He leads the market ahead of stablemate Changingoftheguard, who was cut from 50-1 and is now 9-2 second favourite after an authoritative victory in the Chester Vase on Wednesday, while Star Of India (Dee Stakes) and United Nations (Lingfield Derby Trial) are other Derby trial victors prominent in the betting for Ballydoyle.

Betfair spokesman Barry Orr said: "On the day it was announced that Luxembourg will miss Epsom, another of his stable companions shot to the head of the betting with a dominant display in the Leopardstown Derby Trial. Stone Age is now 3-1 favourite from 10 and furthers tightens Aidan O’Brien’s grip on the Derby’’

The Sir Michael Stoute trained Desert Crown is the leading British hope in an Irish-dominated market, and he will put his Derby credentials to the test in Thursday's Dante Stakes at York, where he looks set to line-up favourite.

The son of Nathaniel is a general 6-1 shot for the Epsom showpiece, and he will bid to emulate Golden Horn, the last horse to do the Dante-Derby double in 2015.

Ballysax winner Piz Badile, trained by Donnacha O'Brien, is still strong in the market at a general 8-1, while Godolphin's hopes of back-to-back Derbys may lie with Lingfield trial runner-up Walk Of Stars.

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