KEY POINTS:
The international raiders' grip on Tuesday's $A5.5 million ($6.18 million) Melbourne Cup tightened further yesterday when last year's winner Efficient was ruled out of the race with a strained fetlock.
Efficient had been third favourite behind the Aidan O'Brien-trained Septimus, who is now the clear A$4.50 top pick with Melbourne's TAB Sportsbet ahead of Luca Cumani's Caulfield Cup fourth placegetter Mad Rush at A$5.50.
Godolphin's Caulfield Cup winner All The Good shares the third line of betting at A$11 with the New Zealand-trained AJC Australian Derby winner Nom Du Jeu, while two-time Cup winner Dermot Weld's Irish mare Profound Beauty is in to A$13.
Efficient's owner, Lloyd Williams, will still be represented by New Zealand Derby winner C'Est La Guerre and last week's Cox Plate runner-up Zipping, who are both at A$16 following the withdrawal of their stablemate.
Williams told Melbourne radio station Sport 927 that Efficient suffered the injury after working at his Mt Macedon property on Tuesday.
"He's got a strained fetlock joint and he's out [of the Cup]," said Williams.
"I really feel for the people who have been working with the horse for 51 weeks since last year's victory."
Meanwhile, English stayer Yellowstone is back on track for a Cup start after the horse's campaign was plunged into doubt on Monday by a hip injury.
Trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam said the horse was again a definite starter.
"We'll get there," Chapple-Hyam said. "He was fine this morning, he cantered along nicely and the best thing was that he trotted up nicely afterwards."
Yellowstone injured his hip when he became cast in his box on Monday afternoon.
Race jockey John Egan, who rode the horse yesterday at Sandown, also provided a positive report.
Egan said the horse had moved freely and comfortably in his work and had been keen to do more.
Yellowstone is a 50-1 chance in the Cup, but Chapple-Hyam has been pushing his case strongly since she arrived in Melbourne last weekend.
Pointing to the horse's favourable form line with Caulfield Cup winner All The Good, she declared him the forgotten horse of the Cup.
But Yellowstone's presence in the 24-horse field might prove a major negative for another of the nine European horses entered for the race.
The Luca Cumani-trained Bauer is No 26 in order of entry and without any obvious defectors above him in the list, he is in danger of missing a run.
Bauer - who impressively won the Geelong Cup last week - may also find himself relegated further down the list if a runner below him wins Saturday's Saab Quality at Flemington.
It would then be up to the VRC committee to use its discretionary powers to include Bauer in the field, a move which would be bound to provoke intense controversy among local owners and trainers on Cup eve.
Cup favourite Septimus took his first steps outside of the comfort zone he has enjoyed for the past two weeks, producing a less-than-convincing track gallop at Sandown on Tuesday.
Septimus and stable companions Alessandro Volta and Honolulu worked over 1800m in their first serious piece of work since arriving in Melbourne.
In a gallop assistant trainer Andrew Murphy said would be a competitive one, Septimus gave his training companions a two-length start from the 500m and just shaded them at the finish.
"We wanted them to all finish pretty much upsides each other," Murphy said.
"They did that, so it was what we were looking for."
The son of Sadler's Wells blew hard after the work, suggesting he will benefit from it.
According to Les O'Briem, one of Melbourne's most astute track watchers, the work was fair enough "for stayers".
"He's probably a better racehorse than he is a trackworker," O'Briem said.
But the clear impression was that the topweight and favourite for Australia's greatest race would need to be.
Another with doubts is bookmaker Mark Morrissey. "This is a severe case of deja vu with Septimus," he said.
"How many times are people going to fall in to these European stayers with their big weights in a Melbourne Cup?"
Septimus and his stablemates are expected to step up their work again tomorrow.
A more positive reaction resulted from the work of the Luca Cumani-trained Mad Rush, who worked over 1600m in even time.
Another to impress was the Dermot Weld-trained Profound Beauty, who strode over 2400m, quickening up in the middle of her work.
- AAP
