Cazoo Derby
(In Memory of Lester Piggott)		 QuinnBet
Group 1, Epsom Downs 16:30
£1,500,000 guaranteed
3yo only,
1m, 4f, 10y   
Saturday 4th June 2022

%ALT_TXT%%

1 Desert Crown 5/2F
2 Hoo Ya Mal 150/1
3 Westover 25/1
4 Masekela 66/1
17 ran Distances: 2½l, hd, 5½l
Time: 2m 36.38s (slow by 0.68s)

Desert Crown ran out a decisive winner – giving trainer Sir Michael Stoute a sixth success in the premier Classic.

Ridden by Richard Kingscote, the Dante victor was sent off the 5-2 favourite for the 12-furlong showpiece and could be called the winner from some way out.

Kingscote was travelling notably well at the top of the straight and when he gave the signal, Desert Crown eased clear of the field and galloped all the way home to triumph in style.

Hoo Ya Mal, a 150-1 outsider, posted a career best in second with Westover staying on for third place.

1981 was the year that Stoute first struck gold at Epsom with the incomparable Shergar, but the 2022 model, a lightly-raced son of Nathaniel , did his best impression of the great horse as Kingscote produced a textbook effort in the saddle for a first British Classic win on just his second Derby ride. 

Desert Crown was posted wide in mid-division in the early stages as Kingscote strived to settle in the ideal position, but his class soon saw him tracking the Ballydoyle trio of Changingoftheguard, Star Of India and Stone Age, as well as the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained West Wind Blows, who had joined the O’Brien runners in front rank. 

The race was put to bed shortly into the home straight, with Kingscote electing not to wait any longer with the smooth travelling colt approaching the two-furlong pole, allowing his mount to stride to the front and lap up the adulation of the Epsom crowd.

He only needed to be ridden out to record a two-and-a-half-length victory from 150-1 outsider Hoo Ya Mal. 

Ralph Beckett’s Westover can perhaps count himself unlucky in third having been held behind the fading early pacesetters, but the day belonged to Stoute and Kingscote, with the Barbadian picking up his first Derby since Workforce’s victory in 2010.

Cazoo Derby (Group 1)
£1,500,000 guaranteed, 3yo only, 1m 4f 10y, Class 1
17 ran
Going: Good

POS. (DRAW) DIST DRAW HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (12)     Desert Crown 3 9-2 Sir Michael Stoute Richard Kingscote 5/2
2 (3) 2½ Hoo Ya Mal 3 9-2 Andrew Balding David Probert 150/1
3 (2) hd Westover 3 9-2 Ralph Beckett Rob Hornby 25/1
4 (8) 5½ Masekela 3 9-2 Andrew Balding Andrea Atzeni 66/1
5 (16) 1 Changingoftheguard 3 9-2 A P O'Brien Wayne Lordan 9/1
6 (4) 1¾ Stone Age 3 9-2 A P O'Brien Ryan Moore 7/2
7 (6) ¾ Nahanni 3 9-2 Charlie Appleby Adam Kirby 25/1
8 (5) 1¾ Nations Pride 3 9-2 Charlie Appleby William Buick 15/2
9 (11) 1¼ West Wind Blows 3 9-2 Simon & Ed Crisford Jack Mitchell 40/1
10 (14) shd El Habeeb 3 9-2 J S Moore JF Egan 250/1
11 (17) 1¼ Grand Alliance 3 9-2 Charlie Fellowes Daniel Tudhope 40/1
12 (7) ½ Piz Badile 3 9-2 Donnacha O'Brien Frankie Dettori 9/1
13 (15) 1½ Star Of India 3 9-2 A P O'Brien Seamie Heffernan 16/1
14 (10) 6 Glory Daze 3 9-2 A Oliver Ronan Whelan 66/1
15 (13) nk Sonny Liston 3 9-2 Charles Hills Tom Marquand 100/1
16 (1) 13 Royal Patronage 3 9-2 Charlie & Mark Johnston Jason Hart 28/1
17 (9) 34 Walk Of Stars 3 9-2 Charlie Appleby James Doyle 11/1

QuinnBet