Court Masterpiece continued his Goodwood love affair with a commanding victory under Jimmy Fortune in the Cantor Spreadfair Sussex Stakes at the Glorious meeting.
It was fitting that the feature race of the five-day meeting fell to a horse who has barely put a foot wrong on the Sussex Downs where he has had four wins from eight starts.
But it was the Irish 2000 Guineas hero and St James's Palace Stakes winner Araafa who was seen as the most likely winner with Jeremy Noseda's three-year-old going off the 11-10 favourite on the back of his Group One brace.
Having been handy, the mount of Alan Munro weakened rapidly in the closing stages and dropped away to be fifth - just as Fortune swept through the seven-runner field for a two-length success.
The 15-2 winner was held-up in fifth early on and the gaps appeared along the straight as Ed Dunlop's charge weaved his way past his rivals to easily beat 2004 winner and last year's runner-up Soviet Song. Rob Roy stayed on from the rear to take third while Aussie Rules finished fourth.
"I'm delighted for the horse and I hope he will go and make a stallion some day," Dunlop said. "I'd like to take him to America for the Breeders' Cup Mile - he would be a companion for Ouija Board - but we'll take him home and have a think."
Eddie Ahern was in irresistible form when he booted home a 293-1 three-timer highlighted by a double for Paul Cole on Strategic Prince and Strategic Mount.
The former won one of the day's feature events, the Veuve Clicquot Vintage Stakes.
Ahern then proceeded to give Strategic Mount a canny front-running ride to beat Bandama by one and three-quarter lengths in the cantorspreadfair.com Stakes.
Cole has big plans for the winner, whom he hopes will develop into a Cup horse next season.
After greeting the 6-1 shot, Cole said: "His target is the Melrose (at York on August 24) if he can get into the handicap. He's had three easy wins and he'll go up again for that."
The treble was completed when Ahern took the Findon Maiden Fillies' Stakes on Sacre Coeur for local trainer John Dunlop. He sent the 5-1 chance to the front at halfway in the six-furlong dash but had to ride her right out to hold the fast-finishing Rahiyah by a neck.
Key Time benefited from a fine tactical ride from Seb Sanders to win the Invesco Perpetual Goodwood Stakes.
Sir Mark Prescott's progressive gelding, sent off the 5-1 joint-favourite, took his tally to five wins from six starts this season after winning by a neck from the staying-on Theatre.
Jockey champion-elect Ryan Moore brought Nice Tune with a perfectly-timed run down the outside to take the Weatherbys Bank Fillies' Stakes by a length from Princess Cocoa. n Paul O'Neill will face the disciplinary panel of the H orseracing Regulatory Authority today after television cameras showed him appearing to headbutt a horse at Stratford.
The conditional jockey is charged with improper riding towards his mount, the John O'Shea-trained City Affair, before the Claydon Horse Exercisers Novices' Selling Hurdle Race on July 23. The penalty range for improper riding is a caution up to 21 days.
