Dream misses Ascot target

African Dream was an 11th-hour withdrawal from the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot today.

Trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam decided not to risk his Dee Stakes winner on firm ground.

“I’m not going to run him and risk messing him up,” the Newmarket trainer told BBC Sport.

“If the race was over the stands side I would him run him, but over the other side it is fast, hard ground.

“It’s no-one’s fault – it’s just the weather. They’ve done a fantastic job to keep this place the way it is.”

Just five runners will now go to post for the Group Two contest, known as the Ascot Derby, over a mile and a half.

Rule Of Law, runner-up in the Vodafone Derby, was announced a non-runner by Godolphin yesterday as the colt has a low-grade upper respiratory infection.