Novellist, one of the leading contenders for Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, has been ruled out of the Longchamp showpiece with a temperature.

The news is a huge blow for his German connections as, on the strength of his record-breaking King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes win at Ascot in July, he had a major shot at Europe's most prestigious race on Sunday.

He was aiming to give Germany their second Arc in three years after Danedream's success in 2011.

"Everything was fine until this morning when we took his temperature," trainer Andreas Wohler told The Racing Post.

Wohler had delayed Novellist's trip from Germany to Paris in the hope that his stable star's condition might improve but in the end his fever only got worse.

This is the second successive year that German racing has been robbed of fielding a major fancy for the French feature as Danedream was unable to mount a title defence due to an outbreak of swamp fever in Cologne.