The Queen’s Derby hopeful, Reach For The Moon, will miss the showpiece event at Epsom next month after suffering from a setback.
Reach For The Moon was fancied by many to a horse who could reward the monarch with one of sport’s biggest prizes.
Before his withdrawal was announced, the horse was fancied by punters as a 7-1 shot at winning the race.
The Derby is the one major race that The Queen has not managed to win, and be in no doubt, it is the race she would most like to win.
In her long racing career, Her Majesty’s horses have finished second, third and fifth in the Derby, with the top prize just eluding her.
The horse suffered an injury late last year which meant he had a period of rest and hasn’t been seen on the racetrack since September.
On Tuesday morning, the three-year-old colt’s trainer, John Gosden, revealed that the horse would miss the Derby after suffering from a setback.
Mr Gosden told the Racing Post: “Following a setback last autumn, Reach For The Moon has been given all the time and care he requires in his training programme.
“We had planned to run him in the Dante Stakes at York next week. However, in the best interests of the horse we have decided that this race is coming too soon for him.
“Consequently, he will not run in the Derby and will be pointed towards Royal Ascot.”
Nobody will be more understanding of this setback than The Queen for she understands that horses are athletes, not machines.
The 96-year-old does have two other horses entered in the Derby, albeit they are big outsiders, and are perhaps unlikely to line up in the race on the day.
Educator and General Idea are both trained by William Haggas and hold Derby entries. Their careers have been unremarkable so far, although for now the dream is still alive of a royal winner in 2022.
