St Nicholas Abbey will not run in the Investec Derby at Epsom on Saturday after apparently suffering a setback.
Ballydoyle's three-year-old was on Tuesday morning found to have suffered a slight muscle injury in a hind quarter.
Aidan O'Brien's colt was the long-time ante-post favourite for the premier Classic, but failed to impress jockey Johnny Murtagh in a work-out last Friday.
O'Brien told www.coolmore.com: ‘St Nicholas Abbey was due to work first thing this morning, however when he came out of his box we noticed he was stiff behind.
‘He had looked slightly stiff yesterday evening. His work on Friday last was a little lacklustre for him and that was the first time we had seen anything different, but he was fine afterwards.
‘He was immediately examined and scanned by our vets this morning.
‘They found a slight muscle injury high up in his hind quarter. This meant he could not work today and we were advised to give him an easy few days.
‘Obviously this will preclude him from running in the Investec Derby on Saturday.
‘We always thought St Nicholas Abbey could walk on water and it is very unfortunate for all concerned to have a setback like this so close to the big race.’
St Nicholas Abbey was a brilliant winner of last year's Racing Post Trophy, extending his unbeaten juvenile record to three.
He returned to the track last month in the Newmarket 2000 Guineas, in which he finished only sixth behind Makfi.
O'Brien still holds a strong hand at Epsom, however, with new favourite Jan Vermeer the subject of a sustained gamble over the last few days.
The impressive Gallinule Stakes scorer could be joined in the final line-up by stablemates Midas Touch, Cape Blanco, At First Sight and Bright Horizon.
St Nicholas Abbey's defection was branded by bookmakers William Hill as a ‘£3million body-blow to punters’.
Hills spokesman David Hood said: ‘St Nicholas Abbey had been the long-time favourite for the Derby ever since his win in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster last October.
‘Of course, ante-post liabilities are only a fraction of what is incurred on the day, but we estimate that punters would already have stood to win in excess of £3million across the industry.’
In other Epsom news, trainer Mark Tompkins is hoping there will be plenty of pace on for his Chester Vase winner Ted Spread.
‘He's won his trial so you've got to go there. He's always shown me he's a nice horse,’ he told At The Races.
‘He's been fine and has sharpened up since Chester. Darryll (Holland) gave him a great ride and it taught him a lot. He's quite a big horse and is very relaxed. It did him a bit of good.
‘I hope there will be some pace. Maybe one of Aidan's will lead and Bullet Train might go on as well, but the quicker they go the better it will suit him. He'll definitely stay.
‘We need more rain. I hope Mr (Andrew) Cooper, the clerk of the course, will put plenty of water on and I'm sure it will be brilliant ground for everybody.’
Michael Hills, who will replace the injured Holland on Saturday, admitted being pleasantly surprised when he sat on Ted Spread for the first time.
‘I rode him work on Friday. Basically, it was a routine piece of work for him to get a feel of me and me to get a feel of him,’ he said.
‘I was actually surprised how much speed he had. I had spoken to Darryll and he said to me that he really wakes up on the track and he will show quite a bit of speed, which is really handy for the first part of the race to get the position you ideally want.
‘Chester's a great place to bring them on and if they can go round there they should be fine at Epsom.’
