Defoe followed up his Coronation Cup triumph of three weeks ago with a hard-fought victory in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.
A quality field of eight runners went to post for the Group Two contest and there was real drama right from the off, with last year's Derby hero Masar - making his first appearance since his Epsom success - stumbling badly after coming out of the stalls and impeding the Czech raider Nagano Gold.
Defoe raced in midfield for much of the mile-and-a-half journey, but was being ridden along by Andrea Atzeni rounding the home turn, at which stage the strong-travelling Mirage Dancer looked set to provide Sir Michael Stoute with a 12th Hardwicke success.
However, Roger Varian's grey, the 11/4 favourite, really found his stride in the straight and after hitting the front over a furlong out, he found enough for pressure to prevail by half a length.
Nagano Gold ran a tremendous race to fill the runner-up spot following his early setback, which virtually brought him to a standstill, with Mirage Dancer just a length away in third.
Masar was not disgraced on his long-awaited return, travelling well for much of the way before weakening out of contention from the furlong pole to finish fifth.
"I don't really know what happened."@the_doyler spoke to @RishiPersad1 about Masar's start in the Hardwicke pic.twitter.com/qbvRIHmsVk
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) June 22, 2019
Atzeni was delighted to win the Group Two event though, and said: "It's great. It's a tough week and hard to get winners. He's very straightforward.
"It's great for the owner as he's here today and has been here all week."
Trainer Roger Varian added: "I'm delighted, it's a special moment. He's a good horse who's getting better as he gets older and I'm delighted for the winner.
"He's a gentleman of horse, very straightforward and one of my favourites. (The King George) must be on the radar now."
Masar went on to run with credit on his first start since the Derby, before tiring from the furlong pole.
Doyle said: "He tripped over coming out of the gates, which is obviously not ideal in a race like this, but that's horse racing. It's annoying, but we'll move on."
Appleby said of Masar: "I'm delighted to see him back. We had a little bit of a mishap with a bit of a stumble out of the gates and therefore it didn't materialise quite how we wanted it to.
"We would have liked to have been placed a bit further forward. James (Doyle) was rather forced into a situation there. They have gone a sensible gallop, but as you saw he was a bit fresh and over-raced in the first quarter of the race."
He added: "Without speaking to His Highness (Sheikh Mohammed) yet, I'd imagine something potentially like the Juddmonte International, as I wouldn't mind coming back in trip.
"For me he has still got plenty of boot there."
Sky Bet clipped the winner a couple of points to 8/1 for the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes back at Ascot next month.
🏇🥇 Defoe wins a second successive Group One but was given a real scare by a 25/1 shot hailing from the Czech Republic!
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) June 22, 2019
🏆 The Coronation Cup hero of last month holds off Nagano Gold to clinch a thrilling Hardwicke Stakes.#RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/K7qXwDzZyo
