Hyped sprinter Lord Of The Sky has been sent to the spelling paddock after finishing at the tail of the field in the Listed W.J. Adams Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

Lord Of The Sky is out of the 2014 Melbourne Festival Of Racing after flopping in the W.J. Adams Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Lord Of The Sky was extremely well-backed in the lead-up to the W.J. Adams Stakes, but according to jockey Glen Boss, did not handle the heat at Caulfield before the race and faded badly in the final stages of the event to finish a distant last behind the impressive Shamal Wind.

“By the time he was in the barrier he was getting hotter and hotter and he lost it,” Boss told TVN after the race.

“The heat obviously got to him.”

Lord Of The Sky started his preparation with two impressive wins, taking out the National Patient Transport Handicap (1000m) at Caulfield on December 7 and the Guinot International Handicap (1000m) at the same venue on January 15, and was on target to make his Group 1 debut in the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield on February 22.

Trainer Robbie Laing has ruled the three-year-old out of the Oakleigh Plate, as well as the rest of the 2014 Melbourne Festival Of Racing, and is hopeful that the son of Danerich can return to the races a stronger horse after a stint in the spelling paddock.

“There will be no Oakleigh Plate for this horse; not this year anyway,” Laing told TVN.

“He has pulled up very ‘jarry’ and you could tell just watching the race on Saturday that it wasn’t the same horse who won at the track a few weeks earlier.

“I’ve usually found that if you are patient with horses, and give them time when they need it, they repay you later on, so that’s exactly what we will do with this horse.”

Laing still has a number of Group 1 contenders ready for the 2014 Melbourne Festival Of Racing; with 2013 Victoria Derby winner Polanski set to begin his campaign in the Group 1 Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

Hugh Bowman partnered Polanski to victory in the Victoria Derby, but Dean Yendall will have the opportunity to reunite with the son of Rakti after riding him in the Listed UCI Stakes (1800m) and the Group 3 Norman Robinson Stakes (2000m) during the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival.