No King Memphis on Derby final night after suffering a setback

King Memphis suffers another setback

A plan to see last year’s beaten Derby favourite King Memphis compete on this year’s final night has been scuppered by yet another setback. 

Liz McNair’s dual Cat One winner was injured following an incident at a Towcester trial session in early April which left him with a shoulder injury and unable to take part in this year’s competition. 

He has since run three solo trials at Central Park, the most recent on Tuesday when he clocked 16.07 on going rated -10 for the 277 metres. 

The track record (16.02) is held by kennelmate King Presley, who trialled at the same session in 16.03. 

Assistant trainer Rab McNair said: “We were delighted with the pair of them and I was looking forward to Derby Final night but the next morning I noticed that Memphis was lame and had a slight swelling at the top of one of his toes. A different leg to the shoulder injury. 

“I don’t know whether it is broken or not, but whether it is, or is just strained, the treatment will be the same. 

“He will be off for at least a couple of months and we won’t be making any plans for the future. When your luck is out this badly, there really doesn’t seem to be any point.”