Another big-race absentee for Aidan O'Brien as Ylang Ylang misses Breeders' Cup due to fever

Ylang Ylang became the latest big-name Aidan O’Brien contender to be ruled out of a major international target after the three-year-old was scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf due to sickness.

Reports that vets at Del Mar had stepped in to rule it out the daughter of Frankel were not accurate. A statement from Ballydoyle said: ‘’Ylang Ylang ran a slight fever and didn’t eat up. Our vet Vince Baker advised against running her. She never had a pet scan.’’ 

News that the daughter of Frankel will miss Saturday’s Grade 1 (10.25) came just a day after O’Brien’s ante-post favourite for the Melbourne Cup, Jan Brueghel, was withdrawn from the race by the Racing Victoria stewards.

Ylang Ylang disappointed when last seen, failing to beat a rival in the Prix de l'Opera won by Friendly Soul at Longchamp at the start of the month.

She has been winless in five starts since landing the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket in October last year and was given a break by O’Brien after managing only sixth when sent off the 11-8 favourite for the Oaks in May.

Ylang Ylang, who began her season by finishing fifth in the 1,000 Guineas, beat only one of her seven rivals in the Group 3 Desmond Stakes after that 69-day layoff before finishing fourth in the Matron Stakes prior to her Paris disappointment.

O’Brien, who branded the local stewards in Victoria’s decision to rule St Leger hero Jan Brueghel out of the Melbourne Cup as “ridiculous”, could still be represented by Yorkshire Oaks heroine Content in the Filly & Mare Turf.

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'We won't sacrifice safety for the sake of having a runner' - Racing Victoria respond to Jan Brueghel criticism 

'It's ridiculous - very few young horses will pass the criteria' - Aidan O'Brien sounds warning about Melbourne Cup team 

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