Ancient Wisdom showed an abundance of spirit and stamina to land the Kameko Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster.

Charlie Appleby’s charge made the running early on but was headed by Devil’s Point and Dancing Gemini when the pace quickened three furlongs out.

However, Ancient Wisdom got a second wind in the latter stages and galloped on strongly to outstay Devil’s Point by a length and three-quarters.

William Buick’s mount was sent off the 5-4 favourite, while God’s Window stayed on to finish a head behind Devil’s Point in third. Aidan O’Brien’s Diego Velazquez faded out of contention.

Ancient Wisdom, supplemented for the race on Monday, was cut to as short as 6-1 with Betfair and Paddy Power for next year’s Derby, while Coral offered 8-1 for him to win the Epsom Classic.

The start of the race was delayed by a nasty incident when Battle Cry reared up in the stalls and fell backwards, unseating jockey Ben Curtis in the process.

That forced the O’Brien-trained outsider to be withdrawn but both horse and jockey were thankfully able to walk away.

Doncaster’s Kameko Futurity Trophy meeting will go ahead as planned this afternoon.

While day one of the weekend fixture on Friday fell foul of waterlogging in places, hopes were reasonably high the card featuring the final Group One of the domestic season would survive after the movement of rails to avoid troublesome areas.

A precautionary inspection confirmed that view after a dry but misty night, meaning an intriguing main event will see a highly-anticipated clash between Charlie Appleby’s Arabian Crown and the Aidan O’Brien-trained Diego Velazquez.

No problems are reported over jumps at Cheltenham and Kelso, where Grand National winner Corach Rambler returns to action in the Edinburgh Gin Chase. At Cheltenham, the star attraction could be Flooring Porter, as the dual Stayers’ Hurdle hero goes over fences for the first time in the William Hill Lengthen Your Odds Novices’ Chase.

Saturday’s Kameko Futurity Trophy will evoke memories of yesteryear with Godolphin and Coolmore going head-to-head in the final Group One of the season, through Ancient Wisdom and Diego Velazquez.

The late 1990s and early 2000s saw endless clashes between the two superpowers, which arguably peaked in the summer of 2001 when Galileo and Fantastic Light served up two treats in the King George and Irish Champion Stakes, winning one each.

Godolphin paid €2,000,000 for Dubawi colt Ancient Wisdom, while Coolmore went to 2,400,000 guineas for Diego Velazquez

It cost connections £17,500 to supplement Autumn Stakes hero Ancient Wisdom into the contest earlier in the week, and Charlie Appleby is confident his youngster can take another step forward from that impressive Newmarket success.

He said: “He won the Emirates Autumn Stakes in good style. He appreciated the ground and step up in trip. He has come out of the race very well and had an easy bit of work at Newmarket on Saturday where he showed his wellness.

“He has obviously done well for the break he had after Ascot, physically he has done very well from then until now.”

He added on the Godolphin website: “He showed at Newmarket that a mile on testing conditions suited him, so he ticks a few boxes in a race where stamina is going to play a part. It’s a competitive field and we are looking forward to seeing how he gets on.”

With Ryan Moore suspended Aidan O’Brien quickly snapped up the services of James Doyle, who has ridden two Group One winners for the stable this year through Warm Heart.

Speaking on news of his booking for Diego Velazquez, who is a son of Frankel, Doyle told Sky Sports Racing: “It’s very exciting and I’m looking forward to it.

“We haven’t seen much of him, but the two starts we have done he looks very progressive and warms to the task.

“I don’t think he’s encountered ground like we’ll have so we’ll just have to see.”

Roger Teal saddled Dancing Magic to finish fourth in this race 12 months ago and connections are represented by Dancing Gemini this time around, who takes the step up to Group One company following a taking success at the track in the Flying Scotsman Stakes.

That four-and-a-quarter-length triumph came on soft ground and although not enamoured by the thought of heavy ground for his talented colt, Teal is hoping his agile nature will help him deal with the testing conditions.

“We are very happy with him, he came out of the Flying Scotsman Stakes very well,” said Teal.

“He beat what was in front of him that day and he beat them in style, it was faster than the Group Two the next day. It was a good performance, he did it very convincingly.

“It was pretty soft the day he won at Doncaster. It is not ideal for any horse, I don’t think any trainer would choose the conditions if they could. The way he travels, he is quite light on his feet so hopefully he doesn’t get bogged down too much.”

David Menuisier added a third Group One to his CV when Sunway claimed the Criterium International last weekend and bids to quickly add to his tally with Devil’s Point, who was third in the Solario Stakes at Sandown before racing at Saint-Cloud most recently.

He was not disgraced when an honourable fourth behind Criterium International runner-up Alcantor on that occasion and is one in the line-up set to relish the deep ground.

“He came out of the race at Saint-Cloud really well, the form of the race was franked in Group One Criterium International,” said Menuisier.

“The ground was potentially not quite soft enough for us last time, so I would expect him to improve a few lengths on what he did in the Prix Thomas Bryon and he was an unlucky loser in the Solario Stakes at Sandown before that.

“The horse is top notch and with the softer ground this weekend hopefully he can run a really good race.”

John and Thady Gosden will rely on God’s Window who was likeable winner of a soft-ground maiden during the St Leger Festival and is now upped to the highest level for just his second start.

He will be ridden by Kieran Shoemark, who said: “He won his maiden nicely there on pretty soft ground on Leger day so the ground is not a concern.

“He definitely appreciates a cut in the ground but heavy ground is different altogether.

“He gave me a good feel on his debut, I felt when I crossed the line he was only just getting going and he ran all the way to the bottom of the hill.

“Diego Velazquez was impressive last time, Ancient Wisdom was impressive in the Autumn Stakes so it’s a good race, as it should be.”

Less than a length back in second in that contest was Redhot Whisper with his trainer Ben Brookhouse planning this outing ever since finishing third at Leicester on debut.

He said: “He came out of the race at Doncaster in good order, he seems to take to his racing really well.

“We aimed him at this race after running very well in his maiden, which was a very expensive maiden and he was beaten by a very smart horse. He was finishing off nicely that day and was giving away three pounds to the eventual winner.

“His preparation has gone very pleasingly, very straightforward to this point. We think he will see out the trip and will love the ground. We think he is still progressing.”

Deira Mile completes the field on his first start for Owen Burrows.

Diego Velazquez heads eight declarations for the Kameko Futurity Trophy at Doncaster on Saturday.

Having impressed on his debut, the Frankel colt took the step up to Group company in his stride when seeing off stablemate Capulet in Leopardstown’s Champions Juvenile Stakes.

Aidan O’Brien’s youngster is one of the leading fancies for the Group One contest, a race in which the Ballydoyle handler has a fine record and claimed with subsequent Derby hero Auguste Rodin in 2022.

Diego Velazquez will be joined in the line-up by stablemate Battle Cry.

Charlie Appleby’s Autumn Stakes winner Ancient Wisdom looks a chief threat and was supplemented for the Town Moor contest earlier this week, while Roger Teal’s Dancing Gemini returns to the scene of an impressive track victory in the Flying Scotsman Stakes.

John And Thady Gosden’s God’s Window also created a taking impression when debuting during the St Leger Festival at the course, while Ben Brookhouse’s Redhot Whisper was less than a length adrift on that occasion and is also engaged.

Devil’s Point will bid to give David Menuisier a second Group One victory in the space of a week, with Deira Mile completing the field for Owen Burrows, although he is also declared at Doncaster on Friday.

Diego Velazquez enhanced his Classic claims with a runaway victory on his eagerly-anticipated racecourse debut at the Curragh.

A son of Frankel who cost 2.4million guineas as a yearling, Aidan O’Brien’s juvenile was already priced up for next year’s 2000 Guineas and Derby ahead of his first competitive outing, suggesting he has been showing plenty on the Ballydoyle gallops.

He was a 2-5 favourite to make a successful start to his career in the Bord Na Mona Recycling Irish EBF Maiden and while Ryan Moore had to niggle him along at various stages, the further Diego Velazquez went the better he looked.

Easy to pick out with a white blaze and four white socks, the youngster quickened up smartly entering the final furlong and passed the post just under five lengths clear of 80-1 shot Guildenstern, who pipped the winner’s stablemate Old Faithful to the runner-up spot by a nose.

Betfair and Paddy Power cut Diego Velazquez to 12-1 from 16-1 for the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, while he is 10-1 from 14-1 for the Derby. O’Brien houses the ante-post favourite for both races in City Of Troy.

Of his latest winner, the trainer said: “We had him ready to run about a month ago and he got a little injury so we had to stop and start again. He was just ready to come racing today.

“We wanted to get him out. Ryan said he was very babyish, but he obviously has a massive engine. He doesn’t even know what he’s at yet.

“He said he only came on the bridle with 50 yards to go, he said he only realised he was racing then.

“(The blustery weather) is not ideal for a first time out two-year-old.”

Considering future plans, he added: “We felt with him at home he could go anywhere, but looking at today you’d like to give him another run somewhere before he goes for a big one.

“He was absolutely half-speeding with horses (at home) and came today and didn’t take hold of the bridle. That can happen first time. It happened to Paddington first time in Ascot last year, he never took hold of the bridle.

“He’s probably going to come on and learn a lot from it.”

O’Brien also outlined running plans for some of his other exciting juveniles.

He said: “Henry Longfellow will come here next week for the Futurity and City Of Troy will come here for the National Stakes.

“Ylang Ylang won’t come next weekend, she’ll go straight to the Moyglare.”