Diego Velazquez set to go straight to Queen Anne Stakes

Having missed his intended reappearance in the Amethyst Stakes at Leopardstown recently, the Aidan O'Brien trained Diego Velazquez is likely to make his seasonal debut in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot later this month.

Unbeaten in four starts in Ireland, the Frankel colt has yet to match those heights on his travels. Although managing only 10th of 14 at Royal Ascot last summer, that meeting is very much the intended target.

Off the track since winning at Leopardstown in September, the four-year-old was a late withdrawal at that same venue last month after getting upset in the stalls.

Ballydoyle Stable representative Chris Armstrong said: "It is a pity he got upset at Leopardstown. He has never done it before. We've had him stalls tested last week, he's working nicely at home and is still carrying a bit of condition.

"It is a pity we haven't got a run into him, we had him entered last week but just felt we would give it a miss and go straight to the Queen Anne (at Royal Ascot). That's the plan at the moment.

"In fairness, we got his trip all wrong last year. He ran a lovely race first time in the French Guineas (last season) and we thought he would be a lovely horse for the French Derby. We kept going up in trip and, in actual fact, his best runs were when we brought him back to a mile at Leopardstown.

"It is not ideal going to the Queen Anne first time, but he's in good form and he'll improve from it. I'm sure he will be a lovely horse to work on from Ascot for the rest of the season."

Additional reporting by Michael Graham.