Finjaan finished with a rattle to take top honours in the Betfair Cup at Goodwood for Marcus Tregoning.
The 5-1 chance had been off the track since finishing down the field in the 2000 Guineas in May, but was always travelling powerfully in the hands of Tadhg O'Shea.
Once switched wide of runners, the son of Royal Applause really began to find top gear and he eventually passed the post a cosy half-length ahead of Balthazaar's Gift.
The two market leaders Main Aim and J J The Jet Plane were both well to the fore in the early stages but weakened dramatically late on.
Tregoning said: "It's been worse than a nightmare this season, but I'm lucky I've got such patient owners like Sheikh Hamdan. It's been very difficult since May, we had the virus and it took a while to get over it.
"This horse is so relaxed and so settled, he's had a nice time so hopefully he can go on. I'll look at the Hungerford but he gets a penalty for that. I'm quite keen to take him down the sprinting route eventually.
"It's always quite emotional to have a winner here and you always get a good crowd - I'm very fond of it."
O'Shea said: "Whatever Richard doesn't ride. I'm lucky enough to pick up. It's a nice situation, they are not always second strings - he's a good horse in his own right.
"He had the form in the book and he deserves to be winning decent races. I rode him in the Guineas and I thought he would definitely get seven, but at the same time I didn't want to go on two out and be floundering in the last 150 yards.
"I think he's worth another crack at a mile the way he settled."
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Jet plane ran out of fuel...may be with a little bit of rest now he'll bounce back. It's rare to see JJ finishing almost at the tail of the field on turf!