Master trainer Gai Waterhouse has withdrawn her horse The Offer from next Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.

The horse had been under an injury cloud in the lead-up to the Caulfield Cup, and Waterhouse has opted to pull the stayer from the $6 million feature race.

Waterhouse trained last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente, her maiden win in the race that stops a nation.

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Solid autumn form including a dominant win in the Sydney Cup had seen The Offer head early betting markets for this year’s Cup.

But on firm tracks during the Melbourne spring the horse has not produced the same form.

The Offer had produced a fair effort when sixth in the Turnbull Stakes early this month but was a disappointing 11th in the Caulfield Cup behind Japanese winner Admire Rakti.

After track work on Tuesday Waterhouse seemed still hopeful the horse could make amends over the Flemington 3200m.

“In the autumn he was a horse on the rise and he was a horse down in the weights,” Waterhouse told reporters on Tuesday morning.

“He has now crept up in the weights carrying 56.5kgs, which over two miles is a bit of pudding and he has been hitting hard tracks.”

Waterhouse later advised stewards she will not race the horse.

The popular trainer still has a big hand in other feature races during the spring carnival including the Victoria Derby on Saturday where she will start favourite Hampton Court.

With ABC