SUPERSTAR stayer Stradivarius was simply imperious as he won Gold Cup for the third consecutive time for owner Bjorn Nielsen, trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori.

The six-year-old Sea The Stars horse joins Sagaro (1975, 1976, 1977) as a triple Gold Cup winner with only four-time scorer Yeats (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) having won the two and a half mile staying showpiece more.

Today saw Stradivarius score by 10 lengths, the most decisive of his career. Having moved up effortlessly on the bridle behind long-time leader Nayef Road, Stradivarius went right away in the final furlong and won as he liked. Nayef Road held on for second, eight lengths clear of Cross Counter.

John Gosden said: "I had to have an excuse ready [the ground] in case I messed up the training and I get the blame as the trainer. For a horse to do that, I mean Sagaro was trained by a great friend of mine, Francois Boutin, and ridden by Lester Piggott. I remember watching all his races and he was something. Yeats was a phenomenon. To have a horse mentioned in that bracket is what it is all about.

"We are very proud to have won the race three times and it is great for the owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen. He is passionate about his breeding and broodmares. He has been trying to breed a Derby winner, but he has got a very good Gold Cup horse. For him, it is profoundly fulfilling for him as much as it is for us - it is a pity he can't be here today. We have been on the phone quite a lot before the race and already talked after the race.

"Stradivarius is quite a character. I must change my aftershave, as he got quite coltish whilst I was saddling him. I must have overdone the aftershave or something. He is quite a noisy character and he was having a shout and play out there - he does think life is a bit of fun and when you win races like this, I suppose it is.

"We will look towards the Goodwood Cup and a fourth win there. He has won three of them already. We will have a look at that and if we run there, we might then take a pull. There is talk of running in an Arc. He ran brilliantly in the Coronation Cup and maybe an Arc on autumn ground is not out of the question."

Dettori, who has now won the Gold Cup eight times (Lester Piggott holds the record number of Gold Cup wins, 11) said: "Tremendous. I was worried about the rain; they were talking about the Martyn Meade horse [Technician] a lot, it was a concern, and he actually really surprised me because he went like a hot knife through butter, really. I had everybody covered by the four, then was surprised that I didn't have anyone to challenge me. It is always a scary moment when you get to the furlong marker whether you will pick up or not, but he did and stretched away by 10.

"I was trying to use the horse in front of me as a reference point, but I didn't want anyone to pounce on me quick, so with my first glance I saw James Doyle [Cross Counter] off the bridle, and I couldn't see Oisin [Murphy] on the grey horse [Technician], and then he was in trouble as well, so I thought I would leave them behind and just ride my race to get Ryan Moore [Nayef Road]. I was surprised to see that they were all spent forces by then.

"I am so proud of the horse. He is a joy to be around. He will go down as one of the great stayers like Yeats and Sagaro and who knows, maybe we will try for the four [wins] next year. Well done to Bjorn [Nielsen, owner and breeder] and John Gosden to have him so good today. Even with no crowd, I am quite emotional. It is a very proud moment. Bjorn, if you are watching, let's go for it!

"One day when I am sitting in my rocking chair, to say I rode the horse who won three Gold Cups in a row - that's a big number. I am very proud of it.

"I have ridden some great horses, and he will go down as one the great stayers, definitely my best stayer.

Charlie Johnston, son of and assistant trainer to Mark Johnston, trainer of runner-up Nayef Road, said: "I thought the rider of Withhold was going to ruin his own race as well as ours; it was obvious our horse was doing quite a lot in front and kept harrying him down the hill and out of Swinley Bottom as well. Watching, I thought he would do well to keep going, so to keep going and beat the rest so comfortably was a good effort. There is nothing you can say about the winner that hasn't been said. It was quite special, actually, standing out the front there - there has been absolute silence watching every race go by and then there, every single person stood out there started applauding; that was one of those quite special moments to watch.