Desert Crown (foaled 2 March 2019) is a British

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

. After winning his only race as a juvenile in 2021 he took the

Dante Stakes The Dante Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards () at Y ...

on his three-year-old debut and then maintained his unbeaten record by winning the

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

Background

Desert Crown is a bay colt with a white

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

and white

sock A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

on his left hind leg bred in England by the

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

-based Strawberry Fields Stud. In October 2020 the

yearling Yearling may refer to: *Yearling (horse), a horse between one and two years old *''The Yearling ''The Yearling'' is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Mo ...

was put up for auction at the

Tattersalls Tattersalls (formerly Tattersall's) is the main auctioneer of race horses in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founding It was founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall (1724–1795), who had been stud groom to the second Duke of Kingston. T ...

Sale and was bought for 280,000

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

by Blandford Bloodstock on behalf of the Dubai businessman Saeed Suhail. He was sent into training with

Michael Stoute Sir Michael Ronald Stoute (born 22 October 1945) is a Barbadian British Thoroughbred horse trainer in flat racing. Career Stoute, whose father was the Chief of Police for Barbados, left the island in 1964 at the age of 19 to become an assis ...

Freemason Lodge Stables Freemason Lodge Stables is the training yard of Sir Michael Stoute, ten-time British flat racing Champion Trainer. It is located next to the prestigious Bury Road in Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the W ...

in Newmarket. Desert Crown is from the sixth crop of foals sired by

Nathaniel , nickname = {{Plainlist, * Nat * Nate , footnotes = Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael. People with the name Nathaniel * Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player * Nate A ...

who won the

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot o ...

in 2011 and the

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown P ...

in the following year. His other foals have included Enable,

Channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

and Lady Bowthorpe. His dam Desert Berry showed modest racing ability in a brief racing career, winning one minor race from three starts, but did better as a broodmare, producing four other winners. As a descendant of the British broodmare Suntime she was distantly related to several major winners including

Quiet Fling Quiet Fling (foaled 1972) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. After finishing second on his only start as a two-year-old he developed into a high-class stayer in the following year when he won two handicap rac ...

, Byword and

Bethrah Bethrah (foaled 21 March 2007) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2010. After finishing unplaced on her only run as a two-year-old she reached her peak in the following spring, win ...

Racing career

2021: two-year-old season

Desert Crown began his racing career in a

maiden race In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the se ...

over eight and a half

furlongs A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

on soft ground at

Nottingham Racecourse Nottingham Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated at Colwick Park, close to the River Trent and about 3 km east of the city centre. Characteristics There are actually ...

on 3 November when he was ridden by

Richard Kingscote Richard Kingscote is a British jockey who competes in flat racing. He won the 2022 Epsom Derby on Desert Crown. Background Kingscote grew up in Weston-super-Mare in a family with no racing connections and started riding as a child. He atten ...

and started at odds of 11/1 in an eleven-runner field. He raced close behind the leaders before taking the lead inside the last quarter mile and won "readily" by five and a half

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

from Schmilsson despite showing his inexperience ("ran green") in the closing stages.

2022: three-year-old season

For his first run as a three-year-old Desert Crown was stepped up sharply in class for the

Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 * Group 2 (racing), an FIA classification for cars in a ...

Dante Stakes The Dante Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards () at Y ...

(a major trial race for the

) over ten and a half furlongs at

York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot Racecourse, Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It att ...

on 22 May. Before the race Stoute said that the colt was short of full fitness after his training was interrupted by what he described as a "minor hiccup". With Kingscote in the saddle he started the 7/2 joint favourite alongside the

Royal Lodge Stakes The Royal Lodge Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), an ...

winner Royal Patronage while the other six runners included the

Criterium de Saint-Cloud A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, ...

winner El Bodegon. After racing towards the rear of the field he moved up to take the lead two furlongs from the finish and despite hanging to the right in the closing stages he stayed on well to win by three and a quarter lengths from Royal Patronage. After the race, Stoute, who was winning the race for a record-equaling seventh time commented "I was really impressed with him... He's got further to go at Epsom, but I'd be very hopeful it wouldn't be a problem." On 4 June Desert Crown started the 5/2 favourite for the 243rd running of the Derby over one and a half miles at

Epsom Racecourse Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse on the hills associated with Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course, which has a crowd capacity of 13 ...

. His sixteen opponents included Stone Age (

Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial The Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres) a ...

Nations Pride Nations Pride (foaled 28 April 2019) is a multiple graded stakes race winning Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. As a three-year-old in 2022 he was victorious in three different countries, United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and ...

(

Newmarket Stakes The Newmarket Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres) on t ...

), Changingoftheguard (

Chester Vase The Chester Vase is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 63 yards () at Ches ...

), Piz Badile (

Ballysax Stakes The Ballysax Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres) at Leopardstow ...

), Star of India (

Dee Stakes The Dee Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 70 yards () at Chester in Ma ...

), Westover (

Sandown Classic Trial The Sandown Classic Trial is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 1 furlong and 209 yards ( ...

), Royal Patronage, Nahanni (

Blue Riband Trial Stakes The Blue Riband Trial Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 17 yards (2,027 metres) at ...

) and Masekela (

Denford Stakes The Denford Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Newbury over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each ...

). Kingscote settled the colt in sixth or seventh place as Changingoftheguard set the pace, before moving up on the outside early in the straight and taking the lead approaching the last quarter mile. He quickly opened up a clear lead on his rivals and despite hanging to the left and being eased down in the final strides he won by two and a half lengths from the 150/1 outsider Hoo Ya Mal. After training his sixth Derby winner, Michael Stoute said "We were very hopeful after York that he might win the Derby. But, you know, the performance delighted me because he had won a long way out. He's got such a good mind... I was very happy with where he was positioned when he got to the top of the hill. He's a good athlete and he floated down the hill. It's a wonderful thrill."

Pedigree

*Desert Crown is

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

4x4 to Northern Dancer, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

{{Epsom Derby Winners 2019 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 1-p Epsom Derby winners