Aidan O'Brien's Continuous will miss the Japan Cup due to a small setback.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained St Leger hero Continuous was due to take on the world's highest-rated racehorse Equinox at Tokyo on November 26, but the popular son of Hearts Cry will now not be making the journey after returning 'stiff' from his latest exercise.

His sire, Hearts Cry, landed the Arima Kinen in 2005, creating plenty of strong interest from a Japanese perspective.

The four-year-old stayed on nicely after a slightly troubled passage to finish fifth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp last month but will now not take in his expected trip to Japan, with O'Brien stating, "Unfortunately Continuous was stiff after his latest exercise which means he won't be going to Japan."

Equinox is a general 2/5 chance to continue his remarkable season at Toyko Racecourse later this month.