A minor suspensory injury has forced early favourite Stratofortress out of Saturday's Villiers Stakes.The injury will also rule the Newcastle Cup winner out of next year's autumn carnival."It's only a slight injury but he needs four months in the paddock," Tulloch Lodge racing manager Mark Webbey said.Stratofortress announced himself as a genuine Villiers chance when he returned from a short break to finish second in the Festival Stakes at Rosehill earlier this month.His Festival placing was his

A minor suspensory injury has forced early favourite Stratofortress out of Saturday's Villiers Stakes.

The injury will also rule the Newcastle Cup winner out of next year's autumn carnival.

"It's only a slight injury but he needs four months in the paddock," Tulloch Lodge racing manager Mark Webbey said.

Stratofortress announced himself as a genuine Villiers chance when he returned from a short break to finish second in the Festival Stakes at Rosehill earlier this month.

His Festival placing was his first start since returning a career-best rating with his Group Three Newcastle Cup win during the early part of the spring.

Stratofortress worked stylishly over 1200m on the Randwick steeple grass on Thursday but a mid-morning inspection revealed the first signs that something was amiss.

"We then scanned the leg as a precaution and the injury showed up," Webbey said.

Ex-stablemate Rhythm Of Dance has taken over as the $6 favourite for the Group Two mile at Randwick on Saturday in a reshaped - and now congested - TAB Sportsbet market.

Rhythm Of Dance, who is chasing his fourth win on end, steps out in trainer Anthony Cummings' colours for the first time after being sold to stable clients.

The four-year-old heads revised betting from Parthian ($7.50) with topweight Snow Alert, Adnocon and Dysphonia all at $8.

In other important Villiers day scratchings, Queenslander Rasmussen and the David Payne-trained Cardinal Virtue have been withdrawn from the feature sprint race, the Listed Razor Sharp Handicap.

Racing returns to the Randwick course proper for the first time since November 6 with track manager Nevesh Ramdhani tipping a good surface.

He said 6mm of overnight rain had kept the track in the dead range on Friday but predicted fine weather would more than likely result in an upgrade.