Desert Crown won the Epsom Derby on the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Weekend.
The race favourite, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, was ridden to victory by Richard Kingscote. Desert Crown cruised into the lead with two furlongs to go and instantly pulled away to win the Derby in dominant fashion.
Changingoftheguard took an early lead but ultimately ran out of steam in the closing stages, as the market leader asserted. Kingscote positioned the horse perfectly, allowing Stoute to claim his sixth Derby win. The 5-2 shot came up the outside and finished clear of Hoo Ya Mal - a 150-1 outsider - as well as the fast-finishing Westover.
The win comes 12 years after trainer Stoute claimed his last title with Workforce in 2010.
"You can't put it into words," Kingscote told ITV Racing. "He has a huge amount of class, jumps great and travelled great, turned in really well - it was lovely. He has a lot of class and gives me a lot of confidence, he is a lovely horse."
Kingscote was riding in only his second Derby after partnering Knight To Behold in the 2018 renewal. The 35-year-old was at the back of the pack on that occasion, but secured the stellar win with a well-timed burst of acceleration that blew the field wide open.
The race was run in memory of jockey Lester Piggott, who took the Derby a record nine times and died at the age of 86 last weekend.
Ralph Beckett's Westover can perhaps feel hard done by with third having been held behind the fading early pacesetters, but the day ultimately belonged to Stoute and Kingscote. The Derby win is Stoute's biggest triumph since the death of his partner Coral Pritchard-Gordon in August 2020.
The thrilling race came after a celebration to mark the Platinum Jubilee earlier in the afternoon, which saw the display of five of the Queen's former racehorses parade along with a selection of hats inspired by the seven decades of her reign. The monarch had to pull out of attending Saturday's races due to 'episodic mobility issues', opting to watch the drama unfold from Windsor Castle where she has been sent a racecard to follow the action.
The Queen's hopes of winning this year's Derby were dashed earlier in May when her horse - and one of the favourites - Reach For The Moon was withdrawn, along with two others.
