SA stayer The Map to bypass the Group 3 Bart Cummings at Flemington on Saturday

The Map will take a different path to the Melbourne Cup after a minor setback ruled her out of The Bart Cummings at Flemington on Saturday.

South Australia’s Melbourne Cup hope The Map has been dealt a minor setback in her build-up to “the race that stops the nation” and will not run in Saturday’s Group 3 Bart Cummings (2520m) at Flemington.

The staying mare, which holds a golden ticket to November’s Melbourne Cup, presented with a small amount of mucus on Wednesday morning after completing trackwork.

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It will see trainers Dan Clarken and Oopy MacGillivray take a cautious approach with the mare and abort their plans to run on Saturday, instead turning their attention to the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield on October 12.

“She just had a tiny bit of a discharge after she worked this morning, she galloped super on Tuesday, there was just a little bit of discharge this morning,” MacGillivray said.

“We thought, popping her on a float, and taking her to Melbourne is not ideal.

“We’ll go back to plan A, which was to run in the Herbert Power, that was our original plan anyway.”

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The stable is happy to sidestep to the Herbert Power, and have been impressed with The Map since her last-start run at Caulfield, where she hit the line well in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) to be beaten 4½ lengths.

Jamie Kah guides The Map to a dominant win at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day last year. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

“In hindsight, it’s (Herbert Power) probably the best plan. The race on Saturday is going to be tough, there’s a few desperados in there looking for that ticket in (to the Cup), it’s a full field, I think as it turns out we’ve probably pulled the right rein,” she said.

“She’s improved off that (Caulfield) run, her skin has really cleaned up, she was still carrying a winter, hairy tummy before the Naturalism, all that’s cleaned up, she looks a million bucks.

“(The run was) super, if you look at her final sectionals, they were as good as the winner, she was probably in the worst part of the track and there wasn’t anyone really making ground on the day.

“Once she went back and ended up on the worst part of the track, she was never going to reach them, she’s come through it well, we were more than happy with the run.

“The next couple of days, with a little bit of sunshine on her back, will be good for her.”

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The pair are still eyeing the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) on October 25 as the final piece of the puzzle before the $8m Melbourne Cup on November 5.

The Map is an $18 hope with TAB’s all-in Melbourne Cup market.

Clarken and MacGillivray have one runner at Morphettville on Saturday, On The Scent, in a Benchmark 78 Handicap over 1800m.

“He’ll enjoy getting back on the main track at Morphettville. He’s drawn a good gate (four) and I think we’ll see him bounce right back on Saturday,” she said.

Originally published as SA stayer The Map to bypass the Group 3 Bart Cummings at Flemington on Saturday