Owned by the China Horse Club, Emmaus broke his maiden over this course and distance last September before finishing a creditable fourth in the Listed Prix Isonomy at Deauville, the form of which has worked out incredibly well with the winner, Al Wukair, landing the G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois this season while the second and third have also developed into very-useful stakes performers.

Dropped in trip and switched to handicap company off an opening mark of 99, Emmaus travelled powerfully throughout the first half of the contest, although the race looked like becoming a case of what might have been when he found himself trapped behind a wall of horses as the tempo started to quicken.

Expertly angled into the pervading gaps by Andrea Atzeni as warm favourite Sir Dancealot was granted first run under Ryan Moore, Emmaus still looked as if he would be placed at best with 100 yards left to run, but he stuck his head down and manoeuvred through the narrowest of passages to lead on the line and score by a nose.

The John Gosden-trained Hyde Park was a further length and a half back in third, giving the form of this result a solid shape for the time of year, with Emmaus deserving particular credit for overcoming multiple cases of trouble in running.

A son of Invincible Spirit, Emmaus is out of the Galileo mare Prima Luce, making him from the family of G2 Coventry Stakes winner Verglas and dual-G2 winner Cassandra Go, herself the dam of triple-G1 and Classic winner Halfway To Heaven, who has in turn produced G1 Prix de l’Opera winner Rhodedendron and G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes runner-up Magical.

Roger said: “Emmaus is a good-looking colt who showed very useful form as a juvenile and he looked like he would develop into a Classic contender in the spring. He unfortunately suffered a minor setback, but this was a good way of making-up for lost time and on today’s evidence he will develop into a Group performer next season. He is very much one to look forward to.”