Russian Rhythm left no-one in any doubt that she is a filly out of the very top drawer with a gutsy performance in the Vodafone Nassau Stakes at Goodwood today.
Michael Stoute's three-year-old already has victories in the Sagitta 1000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes to her name but this was the first time she had tackled a trip in excess of a mile.
But she conclusively proved that she gets 10 furlongs as she wore down French raider Ana Marie to score by a neck under champion jockey Kieren Fallon in the £200,000 Group One contest.
Stoute's other runner, Zee Zee Top, was fully five lengths away in third.
It was Johnny Murtagh and Zee Zee Top who cut out the early pace with Lancashire Oaks winner Place Rouge, as Fallon settled Russian Rhythm in just behind the leaders.
Zee Zee Top still led the runners into the straight but it was Hi Dubai who hit the front over three furlongs out as Fallon angled for a run on the inside.
Ana Marie (14-1) looked to have got first run but Russian Rhythm (4-5 favourite) was gradually getting into her stride and wore down her rival inside the last, having been switched to the outside.
She needed every yard of the trip to get there but did so by a neck.
The rallying Zee Zee Top got back up to snatch third but was well in arrears as the front two finished clear.
"She really dug deep," Stoute said. "She showed she gets the trip but she wants livelier ground, she couldn't get a grip of it.
"We decided to run as the ground was not as bad as I feared but Kieren said she found it difficult to get a hold of the ground from where she was she was on the false ground.
"We needed time to think about where we would go with her and we decided coming here would give us another option, although I don't know where she will go next."
Fallon added: "I was following a couple of horses on the rail, keeping to the fresh ground but they didn't really seem to be going anywhere.
"So I had to switch her wide on to the worse ground.
"She couldn't get a hold and she wasn't liking it but when I asked her she really dug deep and found what I knew she would. She has a really big heart."