FRANKEL will bypass the Incestec Derby and head to Royal Ascot.

Following his fantastic victory in the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket last weekend, trainer Henry Cecil has decided to give up on a crack at more Classic glory and head for the St James’s Palace Stakes over a mile.

The Warren Place handler said: “I think the Derby would not be doing the right thing.

“I’d want to give him a race before Epsom over a bit further but I can’t do that.

“Frankel is very well, but we will take it step by step.

“You have to think of the horse and we don’t want to be experimenting with him.

“At the moment, he is telling me not to go a mile and a half and the Prince (Khalid Abdullah, owner) agrees.

“All being well, we’ll go to Ascot and then go from there.”

Following Frankel’s defection, stable-mate World Domination is the new favourite for the blue riband at a best-priced 9-2 with bet365, Stan James, BlueSquare and Paddy Power. He is due to run in the totesport Dante Stakes at York on May 12.

Meanwhile Victoire De Lyphar could make his seasonal reappearance in the Bet totepool At totesport.com Conditions Stakes at Haydock on Saturday.

Dandy Nicholls’ Bertolini gelding had a profitable three-year-old handicap campaign last season, was second behind stablemate Redford in the Ayr Gold Cup.

Tim Palin, manager for owners Middleham Park Racing, said: “The ground is the key to him. We don’t want to run him on really fast ground. If it’s genuine good ground he’ll run. If it’s slightly on the easy side he’ll run. He’s a big, heavy-topped horse and at this stage of the season you don’t want to get him jarred up. Hopefully he’ll make up into a Group performer.”