THE final Group 1 of the season in Britain marked a welcome return to success at this level for Charlie Appleby, and he can now look forward to next season with a colt who has made admirable progress since being beaten into third by Rosallion in the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot in June.

The €2 million sale graduate from Arqana last year (he was the second best price at the sale) won his first two starts at Haydock and Newmarket in 15 days back in June, but was given a break of two and a half months after suffering his sole defeat. Ancient Wisdom’s return to action saw him run out a comfortable winner of the Group 3 Autumn Stakes at Newmarket when stepped up to a mile, and two weeks later he crowned his five-race first season with victory in the Group 1 Kameko Futurity Trophy at Doncaster.