Yucatan Ire pleases in Cup build-up but Our Idaho out after failing to sparkle

Aidan O’Brien’s travelling team are growing in confidence each day as their well-supported Lexus Melbourne Cup favourite Yucatan Ire prepares to round out his preparation for the £4.1 million race.

Travelling foreman TJ Comerford said connections’ decision to bypass the Caulfield Cup appeared to be paying dividends, with the five-year-old thriving in the fortnight since his dominant Herbert Power Stakes (2,400m) win.

The son of Galileo, who is the general 4-1 market leader, will complete his main gallops on the grass at Spendthrift Park Werribee on Tuesday and Saturday.

“I think Aidan [O’Brien] and Lloyd [Williams] called it right not running in the Caulfield Cup,” Comerford said.

“He was a little bit sore coming out of Caulfield [Herbert Power Stakes win] but he’s way better now and he’s back to himself.

“He’s going very well and we’re very pleased with his work.

“He’s going to work tomorrow morning and then again on Saturday.”

Comerford confirmed that both The Cliffsofmoher and Saturday’s Cox Plate runner Rostropovich would take their chance at Flemington, but said Our Idaho would not line up in the Melbourne Cup.

While he was placed in both the Group 1 Goodwood Cup (3,200m) and the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup (3,300m) this season, the six-year-old has struggled to acclimatise since arriving in Melbourne.

Watch Idaho win the Group 3 Ormonde Stakes

“He was working well before he came here and Aidan was happy with how he was going but it just hasn’t been happening here,” he said.

“Aidan agreed that we should just forget about that [Melbourne Cup] for now.

“If there was another race for him we might consider it but at the moment I can’t see anything [else] for him because he needs to go a trip.”

Forty seven horses remained in the Melbourne Cup field at the latest acceptance stage on Monday, with last week’s Geelong Cup winner Runaway jumping to number 23 in the order of entry and is all but assured of a start in the race.

The Andrew Balding-trained Duretto – the Caulfield Cup fourth, who is 15th in order of entry – remains among the entries but on Tuesday will undergo a veterinary examination that will determine his suitability to be a final acceptor on Saturday.

Other notable omissions were Caulfield Cup runner-up Homesman, Kings Will Dream, who was pulled up injured in Saturday’s Cox Plate, as well as Our Idaho.

Among those on the cusp of making the Melbourne Cup field are this year’s Sydney Cup runner-up Zacada (24), Sir Charles Road (25), last year’s fifth Nakeeta (26), Japanese entrant Sole Impact (27), Miss Admiration (28) and British raider A Prince Of Arran (29).

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