27 July 2023 , 09:17
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Desert Crown has not been declared for Saturday’s all star King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes due a leg infection.
His absence robs the Ascot feature of a face-off between the winner of the 2022 Derby and this year’s Epsom Classic hero Auguste Rodin.
Desert Crown was a 6-1 chance to land a seventh King George for the race’s most successful trainer Sir Michael Stoute.
Owner Saeed Suhail's racing manager Bruce Raymond said: "Desert Crown doesn't run, he has got a leg infection. The plan is to go to York, but that is as much as I know."
Due to other setbacks Desert Crown has run only once since his Derby victory when he was beaten into second place by Hukum in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown in May.
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Hukum has been declared among a still stellar 11-strong line-up for the £1.25 million middle distance showpiece.
Auguste Rodin, who has added the Irish Derby to his haul since Epsom, is one of four horses that will represent Aidan O’Brien.
He bids to become the Ballydoyle trainer’s first winner of the Derby since Galileo in 2001 to follow up in the King George, a race which produces a meeting of the last two winners of the Irish Derby with Westover among the field.
Auguste Rodin (left) and King Of Steel meet again in the King George (PA)O'Brien has also declared Bolshoi Ballet, Luxembourg and Point Lonsdale with stable jockey Ryan Moore expected to partner Auguste Rodin.
The rest of the field is headed by last year's King George hero Pyledriver and the outstanding filly Emily Upjohn who will be the retiring Frankie Dettori's last ride in a race he has won seven times, including three times of the great Enable.
If the Italian can add one more victory to his haul he will overtake the legendary Lester Piggott as the race's most successful jockey.
The other three-year-old in the field is the exciting King Of Steel, who gave Auguste Rodin a fright when finishing second to him in the Derby at Epsom at odds of 66-1.
Deauville Legend and Hamish complete runners in the mile and a half race at Ascot, where the ground is now soft, good to soft in places, after 17mm of overnight rain.