Stradivarius set up the prospect of a £1m bonus for his connections as he continued a fantastic campaign by successfully defending his Qatar Goodwood Cup crown.
John Gosden's star stayer had already won the Yorkshire Cup and the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot this season, leaving him on course to land the bonus if he could add the Goodwood Cup and next month's Lonsdale Cup at York through the inaugural WH Stayers' Million.
With Andrea Atzeni on his back for the first time since last year's Goodwood Cup, replacing the suspended Frankie Dettori, Stradivarius was the 4/5 favourite to continue his winning run and travelled powerfully throughout.
Gold Cup runner-up Torcedor was sent straight to the lead by Colm O'Donoghue and briefly looked to have slipped his rival after pinching a couple of lengths halfway up the home straight.
However, Stradivarius reeled him in late in the day and was ultimately good value for the winning margin of half a length.
Gosden confirmed all roads now lead to York on 24 August.
He said: "He's got a lot of heart, and he was very determined to go and win his race. He (Atzeni) said the race was comfortably under control in the last furlong.
"That (Lonsdale Cup) would be the obvious choice, I'm sure they've got it very well insured!
"We'll have to do everything we can to try to win it. We'll see how the horse is, there's three and a bit weeks, which should hopefully be fine, and he was conscious of not giving him a hard race in the last part, he was already thinking ahead.
"Let's see if we can get there, with horses you've always got to be in top order, that's the key point. He's the most charming horse to be around. He's a lovely ride."
