Queen’s horse Reach For The Moon ruled out of Derby with injury

Reach For The Moon, the Queen’s main contender for the Derby at Epsom on Platinum Jubilee weekend, will miss the Classic after failing to recover in time from an injury sustained on the gallops last autumn.

John Gosden’s colt was installed as one of the favourites for the Derby on 4 June after winning the Solario Stakes at Sandown Park last August. He then went down to a narrow defeat in the Group Two Champagne Stakes at Doncaster in September, and was reported to have sustained an injury on 29 September that would rule him out for the remainder of 2021 but was not thought likely to prevent him running in 2022.

Reach For The Moon was due to go on trial for Epsom in the Dante Stakes at York next Thursday but will now be aimed towards a race at Royal Ascot in mid-June. The son of the Derby-winner Sea The Stars was quoted at around 9-1 on Tuesday morning to emulate his sire in next month’s Classic and the possibility that the Queen would have a runner with a serious chance in the Derby – the only British Classic she has yet to win – had been much-anticipated as a potentially huge PR coup for racing.

The Queen still has two entries in this year’s race – Educator and General Idea – but both are priced up as big outsiders, at 40-1 and 66-1 respectively.

With Reach For The Moon now a non-runner, Aidan O’Brien’s Luxembourg, third home in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday, is 9-4 (from 5-2) to give the trainer a ninth win in the race, while New London, a runner in the Chester Vase on Wednesday, is 5-1.