Cracksman performance blamed on hitting his head in the stalls

- Trainer John Gosden has offered an explanation as to why Cracksman appeared off his game when only narrowly defeating outsider Salouen in Friday's Coronation Cup at Epsom, revealing that the colt banged his head in the stalls just before the race started.

Sent off the 2-7 favourite, the four-year-old, Europe's highestrated horse in 2017, was on the

Epsom

back foot throughout the race, getting up only late under Frankie Dettori to defeat gallant 33-1 shot Salouen.

In the immediate aftermath of the dramatic victory, Gosden said he felt that Cracksman did not enjoy running downhill at Epsom, but on Saturday the trainer was able to shed further light on why Anthony Oppenheimer's son of Frankel took so long to rouse himself.

"Cracksman is fine this morning after his win in the Coronation Cup but it turns out that he had a bit of an ordeal in the stalls," said the trainer.

"The horse next door got upset and Frankie said Cracksman lunged forward just before the stalls opened and gave his head an almighty whack, which is why he missed the break.

"We had planned to sit second behind the leader, as he did in France, but that went out of the window and he must have run the race in a complete daze."

Following the narrow victory, bookmakers initially pushed Cracksman out to as big as 3-1 for the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, but then adjusted their prices, shortening him back to a general 5-4. -