Norse Dancer will head David Elsworth's Royal Ascot at York team and goes for the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at next week's meeting.

Elsworth will bypass the mile-long Queen Anne Stakes with the talented five-year-old and will instead run him over ten furlongs in Wednesday's Group One race.

''Norse Dancer worked very well this morning, as did Tucker, who runs in the St James's Palace, and I was very pleased with both of them,'' the Whitsbury handler said.''I am just concerned about the mile races at York. It was a wonderful decision to run the meeting there, with the North-South divide, but the mile races will have limited runners and a bad draw can count you out.

''I'll also run Spanish Don, who won the Cambridgeshire, in the Royal Hunt Cup, but that is over a mile and that might be a problem - we will have to see.''

Norse Dancer was last seen finishing fifth to Grey Swallow in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh and could be joined at the prestigious fixture by last weekend's Vodafone Derby eighth The Geezer.

''He got taken back at the top of the hill, followed them down into the straight and then had a couple of aborted attempts to go past horses but was stopped again,'' said Elsworth, reflecting on the Epsom Classic.

''He finished all right and didn't really have a hard race, and he is in the King Edward VII Stakes. But I haven't discussed it with Jeff (Smith, his owner) yet.

''I am thinking about the Queen's Vase, which is two miles for three-year-olds, for him. It is a long way, but he does stay well.''

* Crack filly Divine Proportions and her similarly unbeaten rival Vadawina stood their ground at yesterday's latest declaration stage for Sunday's Prix de Diane. Fifteen remain in the Chantilly race, known as the French Oaks, in which Divine Proportions will be bidding for her eighth victory in a row and Vadawina her fourth.