THE Epsom Derby lost three of its candidates yesterday when it was announced that Mark Of Esteem, Mick's Love and Nash House will not be in the line up next Saturday.
Godolphin's Mark Of Esteem, winner of the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, was reported to be running a temperature earlier this week and will not be ready, while Mick's Love, successful in the Listed Sunley Newmarket Stakes, has met with a setback in training.
This was confirmed yesterday by Simon Crisford, Godolphin's racing manager. "Mark Of Esteem has missed too much time in his preparation and Mick's Love has met with a training setback."
Nash House, one time favourite for Epsom but well beaten in the Dante Stakes at York, also fell by the wayside after failing to impress in a gallop yesterday morning.
A spokeswoman for Peter Chapple Hyam said: "He doesn't run. There is nothing actually wrong with him - he is just a bit off colour. He is not 100 per cent and you can't run in races like the Derby if you are not 100 per cent. We'll now wait for the Irish Derby."
