IT has been a few years since Royal Ascot has been treated to a head-to-head match up between racing superpowers Godolphin and Coolmore.

But yesterday the Boys in Blue rewound the clock as Rewilding collared Australian star import So You Think to land a superb Prince of Wales’s Stakes victory.

It is a decade since Godolphin’s Fantastic Light clashed with Galileo, with the Sheikh Mohammed operation going through something of a lull at the top level by their high standards.

And prior to yesterday’s race all the talk was of the 4-11 favourite So You Think, who had been transferred to Ballydoyle trainer Aidan O’Brien after starring in Australia.

His lofty reputation looked like it would be enhanced when under Ryan Moore he charged past pace-maker Jan Vermeer to take the lead turning in, in the 1m2f Group One feature. But as he charged to the line, Dettori and the Mahmood Al Zarooni-trained Rewilding (17-2) went after him. After a thrilling battle Rewilding – who was third in last year’s Investec Derby – got up on the line to win by a neck.

Dettori was delighted to back in the winner’s enclosure he has graced more than any other current jockey. But also that the racing’s big two were having another battle of old.

The excited Italian said: “That was probably the best fight I’ve been in for a while – the two horses wanted to win and they are two great champions.

“My fellow has not had the credit and he showed what he’s made of.

“He showed what a fighter he is. I’ve only got three days here this year (due to suspension) and the Prince of Wales’s is one of the great races of the year. To win again is a thrill, and I’m overwhelmed.

“It was sheer joy to be in the race. They are two great teams (Ballydoyle and Godolphin) and we put our life and soul into the job and into the sport. So You Think didn’t go down without a fight and it was one of the epic Royal Ascot races we’ll remember for a long time.”

Dettori, who was already banned for the last two days of the Royal meeting after picking up a 10-day suspension in the Oaks, was handed another for using his whip with excessive frequency which means he misses the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on July 2 and the first day of Newmarket’s July meeting.

Rewilding won the Great Voltigeur Stakes before flopping when an evens favourite in the Ladbrokes St Leger.

But the Tiger Hill colt won the Dubai Sheema Classic last time out and is now on course for a possible return to Ascot in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes for which he is a best-priced 9-2 with Victor Chandler and Boylesport behind Workforce, St Nicholas Abbey and runner-up So You Think.

Godolphin’s racing manager Simon Crisford said: “He needs to be very fresh – after the Voltigeur he ran no race in the St Leger.

“The race went perfectly as there was plenty of pace and Frankie let him get into a rhythm.

“We’ll have to talk to Sheikh Mohammed, but you’d look to coming back here for the King George.

“There are lots of options for later, including the Champion Stakes.”

This was Godolphin’s first Royal Ascot Group One win since the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Ramonti landed the Queen Anne in 2007.

It was also a first for Al Zarooni, who said: “These are the races you always wait for and when you win, it is a great thing. This is a special one because of the way Rewilding was trained and prepared after winning in Dubai. Royal Ascot is not every day, and if you don’t win, you come back the next year and the next year. He has speed so we thought we would try the shorter distance and he did it – he was the better horse.”

Rewilding is 10-1 with Boylesports for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

On runner-up So You Think, O’Brien said: “I will take responsibility for this personally. After he won his first two races so easily I had gone easy on him. He ran keen for the first two furlongs with Ryan and it was a strong-run race. He went and won his race but just got very tired in the last half a furlong.

“Frankie gave his horse a beautiful ride, on a horse that stays a mile and a half well, he just came and got him in the last 50 yards.

“I think it was trainer error, I didn’t have him fit enough for this kind of race and he’s given a good blow afterwards. I would think there’s improvement to come.

“Something like the Eclipse is a definite possible but like always we hadn’t looked beyond today.”