“It’s right that he should be improving. He is a three-year-old and that’s what they should be doing at this time of the year,” said Oxx.

“For me, it was a ‘no worries’ race. Okay, I was a bit worried about the rain, but I was happy enough with the ground.

“I think the plan is to go for the (Irish) Champion Stakes at Leopardstown now in six weeks’ time. With the speed he showed there, dropping back in trip by two furlongs shouldn’t be a problem.

“With such a high-quality field you couldn’t have expected him to win as easily as he did. But when I saw him so far in front, I knew he would keep going.

“The pace wasn’t great but Johnny (Murtagh) had him in just the right place.”

Murtagh was able to surge into a decisive lead at just the right time by sitting so close to a curiously slow early pace.

From the moment Alamshar was kicked into the lead at the two-furlong pole, the result never looked in doubt.

As Nayef and Leadership, who had both looked live dangers on the turn, flattened out of contention, it was Sulamani and Frankie Dettori who came to throw down the most serious challenge.

However, the 13-2 winner wasn’t stopping and galloped all the way to the line to win by three and a half lengths.

Sulamani (9-2) finished a further two lengths clear of Kris Kin (7-2), who stayed on all too late, having been chased along for the final half-mile of the race.

After finishing third to Kris Kin in the Vodafone Derby, Alamshar had gone on to win the Irish equivalent at the Curragh under another inspired riding performance from Murtagh.

Alamshar’s never-ending battles with minor injury are well-documented.

He receives daily physiotherapy at home, but despite this connections were hopeful that he would rise to the big occasion again.

“The guy who does his back told me he thought he was better than ever before this week, and I thought ‘yeah, right’,” smiled Murtagh.

“But he was brilliant with me – he just carried me to the two-furlong pole and the only thing I really had to do was make sure I didn’t fall off.

“I walked the course this morning and I thought it would suit him.

“When I looked around at the two-furlong pole I couldn’t believe it was so quiet. I looked up at the big screen and couldn’t believe that nothing was chasing me.

“It was a great performance by him and he seems to have improved more from the Irish Derby to here than he did between Epsom and the Curragh.”

Understandably, Alamshar leapt to the forefront of the betting for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – the end-of-season Longchamp showpiece in which many of the vanquished here could seek revenge.

But Alamshar’s owner-breeder, the Aga Khan, was reluctant to look that far into the future, not least because his other top-class three-year-old Dalakhani - who finished second to Alamshar at the Curragh – is very much earmarked for the race.

Alamshar is 5-2 for the Arc with Paddy Power and William Hill, Coral going just 2-1 but offering a best price of 5-1 about Dalakhani.

Runner-up Sulamani is a 6-1 chance and that race was confirmed as his target by connections.

Any hopes of revenge for the beaten horses must rest on the fact that Alamshar was able to make a telling thrust by sitting so close to the lead when the pace was slow.

Dettori gave a diplomatic television interview, but was slightly more candid off-camera about his obvious disappointment.

“I was amazed that Sulamani was able to sit so close to such a slow early pace,” he said.

“I am not knocking the winner because it was a great performance, but I think we were all expecting more pace than there was.

“Izdiham didn’t go very fast and horses like Warrsan, who we thought we would be pushing them, were never up there.

“In the end I was too far off the pace and I had too much horse left under me at the finish. With a stronger pace, we would have been challenging.

“But I am pleased he ran such a good race and hopefully we are right on course for the Arc.”

Trainer Saeed bin Suroor added: “I think the winner is a top-class horse. Sulamani has run a big race.”

However, stablemates Leadership and Grandera were both disappointing, with the latter looking reluctant to get involved right from the start.

Kris Kin’s trainer, Sir Michael Stoute, said: “He didn’t get a good position when they turned in for home and was too far back and too wide all the way.”

Bollin Eric was another to suffer because of the steady early gallop, and rider Kevin Darley admitted: “We had to just sit and suffer. I’ve tried making the pace before on him and he just doesn’t like it. They walked for a mile and a quarter, there was just no pace.

“But in the end he’s run a really big race.”

South African contender Victory Moon finished 10th, having appeared to be feeling the effects of some hard races.

“I expect the plan now will be to give him a break back in Dubai and then get him ready for the World Cup meeting next March,” said jockey Wayne Smith.

“He’s been in hard training for a while now and after about seven furlongs he went flat on me.”

Others to disappoint in the race included Falbrav and Nayef, first and second in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes three weeks earlier, but fifth and seventh here.

“When he turned into the straight and met the softer ground he just faltered,” said trainer Luca Cumani of Falbrav, who chartered a wide course in search of better ground.

Nayef’s jockey Richard Hills also blamed the underfoot conditions, saying: “He either wants it loose so that he can go through it, or firm.

“Out there it is tacky and that makes it very difficult for him. He has a big, long stride and he just cannot use it in ground like that.”

The stewards held an inquiry into slight interference between Falbrav and Sulamani two furlongs out but took no further action.

Meanwhile, in the winner’s enclosure the rain was getting worse – but nobody seemed to notice.

“I’ve been carrying my raincoat around all day but I’ve hung it up now,” said Oxx. “It can rain all day now as far as I care.

“It was a terrific run. He was so superior. It’s very difficult to compare horses but I don’t think I have ever had a horse run a better race than that.”