Elm Park relished every yard of the mile trip to claim the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes.
Winner of two starts since finishing third in his maiden, the Andrew Balding-trained colt looked to be one of the first of the market principals to be feeling the pinch, as Andrea Atzeni was at work quite a way from home.
Up front Salateen had taken them along, with 5-4 favourite Nafaqa in close attendance.
The latter finally mastered the Jamie Spencer-ridden leader as they began to meet the rising ground, but just as it looked like he would go on to take the Group Two prize, the 11-4 winner finished with a real rattle on the far side, scoring by a length.
Qatar Racing recently purchased a significant interest in the son of Phoenix Reach, who was supplemented at a cost of £10,000.
Balding said: "I was a bit worried at halfway as I wasn't sure he was liking the ground, I think it was quick enough for him.
"It's nice to have a good horse. My mother bred him, and I think Phoenix Reach is an underrated stallion.
"He's in the Racing Post Trophy - that will be up to Sheikh Fahad and the others, but I'd have said that as long as he's OK, there was no reason why not.
"Royal Lodge winners deserve consideration for the Derby, whether it's the French or the English we'll see, but there's a lot of water to go under the bridge before then."
Atzeni said: "He needed every yard of that and the ground was a bit too quick for him. But once he hit the rising ground and hit top gear, he did it really well. He'll be a Classic horse next year, you'd hope."
