However, he regained his high-class form here under Frankie Dettori with a neck call over the filly Soviet Song, with Salselon a strong-finishing third, three-quarters of a length away.

Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford was relieved at the outcome.

He said: “It was a most disappointing effort in the Lockinge because he’s a top-notch horse. We don’t know what went wrong – there was no explanation.

“Frankie rode him in Dubai in February and he said he would be a very serious horse, and we’ve all been scratching our heads.”

Dettori was also delighted to see the horse, a 12-1 shot, back to his best.

He said: “I’ve been as worried as everyone else. He always worked good and we couldn’t work out why he ran so badly in Dubai and the Lockinge.

“We have all dug deep and the team did a good job to get him back. He travelled really good today, even when he was boxed in he was going well.”

Connections had been considering stepping Refuse To Bend up to 10 furlongs for the Prince Of Wales Stakes tomorrow but Crisford said: “Sheikh Mohammed saw him work two days ago and said keep him to the mile rather than the Prince Of Wales. For the time being we’ll stick to a mile.”

Soviet Song could take on the fillies again in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket next month, while Salselon may be stepped up to a mile and a quarter in the Juddmonte International Stakes at York’s Ebor meeting.

“If Salselon shows the same speed over that trip as he does over a mile he could be quite formidable,” his trainer Luca Cumani commented.

Dettori picked up a one-day ban (June 26) for excessive use of the whip on the winner.