Racing:Godolphin have been dealt a hammer blow with the news that their Melbourne Cup hope All The Good will miss the race.
News broke earlier in the week that the Caulfield Cup winner had suffered a setback but Sheikh Mohammed's operation were hoping that some intensive treatment would enable him to take his place in the line-up.
However, x-rays have revealed that the five-year-old entire has a hairline fracture of the cannon bone.
"The latest news on All The Good is not great. He will miss the race," said Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor.
After winning the rearranged Ebor at Newbury, the Newburgh Handicap, plans were put in place to prepare All The Good for Australia.
And things looked rosy for connections when, under a great ride from Kerrin McEvoy, All The Good won the Caulfield Cup, considered to be the best trial for the big race.
However, bin Suroor found the horse to be slightly lame when he checked him out on Wednesday night.
"He was unsound three days ago, missed his work on Thursday and today he has done nothing," said Bin Suroor.
"The last round of x-rays have shown up a tiny hairline fracture of the cannon bone though.
"He was the perfect horse. I believed in my heart that this was the horse that would run very well in the Melbourne Cup.
"He won the Caulfield Cup and he was improving all the time. When he won at Newbury he won easy and then he won the Group One in Australia — we just have no luck in this race.
"We will try and again and again and again."