Injury has ruled veteran stayer Drunken Sailor out of the Caulfield Cup with the BMW third placegetter not among the 80 horses included in second acceptances today.

Drunken Sailor has been ruled out of the Caulfield Cup. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Owners OTI Racing confirmed the winner of more than $1 million in prizemoney will play no further part in the spring following a last-place finish in the Underwood Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.

“Drunken Sailor has unfortunately gone amiss and will miss the rest of spring. A chip has flaked from a fetlock joint and needs surgery,” OTI Racing tweeted.

The number of runners still in contention for the Caulfield Cup has been reduced from 116 following the latest round of declarations with other notable absentees including the Gai Waterhouse-trained Strawberry Boy, Cox Plate-bound gelding Happy Trails, last year’s third placegetter Tullamore and Adelaide Cup winner Rialya.

All the expected major players remain in contention including French Pair Americain and Dunaden, 2011 runner-up Green Moon, the Mark Kavanagh-trained December Draw, triple Group 1 winner Manighar and last year’s winner Southern Speed.

December Draw rocketed into the second line of Caulfield Cup markets following the Underwood Stakes where he finished third and beat home Southern Speed and Manighar.

The Irish-bred gelding won both the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes and Group 1 Turnbull Stakes last year before finishing a distant last when injured during the Caulfield Cup.

Peter Moody was unconcerned following Manighar’s flat showing in the Underwood and is expecting him to bounce back in the Group1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) on October 13.

Moody has stated the Cox Plate is the major spring target for Manighar but the Caulfield Cup remains an option if the leading trainer thinks Manighar is not a strong winning chance in the Cox Plate.