Royal Champion won the Bahrain International Trophy for trainer Karl Burke, who was claiming his first Stakes-race victory outside of Europe.
Richard Fahey's Spirit Dancer had won the lucrative 10-furlong Group 2 for the past two seasons and it was North Yorkshire to the fore again as Middleham-based Burke struck gold with the Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum-owned seven-year-old.
James Doyle, who was replacing injured regular rider and stable jockey Clifford Lee, settled the 15/8 favourite in fourth as Joseph O'Brien's Galen took the eight-strong field along.
Galen still held the advantage turning for home and it briefly appeared that Dylan Browne McMonagle might have slipped the field but Royal Champion came with a strong late run to overhaul the front-runner deep inside the last furlong, ultimately getting on top to score a shade cosily and secure an eighth career success and third of the calendar year.
Winning jockey Doyle immediately paid tribute to Lee, who has been in hospital following a motorcycle accident late last month, while Burke was already planning his next overseas challenge for the horse.
The trainer said on Racing TV: "He was just wheel-spinning on the ground, just where they're getting into it, but he (Doyle) kept him balanced and once he got rolling you always thought he was going to get the second horse.
"It'll be down to Sheikh Mohammed Obaid but hopefully that will give him a bit of confidence that we can travel him a little bit more. He's going to be an eight-year-old, he's an experienced older horse so I don't see any reason why we can't travel him.
"That's a win-and-you're-in for the Neom (Turf Cup) in Saudi Arabia so I'll have to have a chat with the owner.
"We've had a second in the Breeders' Cup, but we've never had runners here. We've had runners in Dubai and a couple that were credited to me many years ago in Dubai before the Carnival, but I've never had a winner at the Carnival. I've had seconds and thirds in Australia, so it's nice to get one outside of Europe and it's a little bit of a monkey off my back."
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