The Euphrates claims Kingston Town Stakes in commanding style

In a dominant display, the imported stayer The Euphrates, formerly trained by Aidan O'Brien in Ireland, delivered a powerful all-the-way victory in the Group 2 $300,000 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick on his second start for Tulloch Lodge.

The gelding demonstrated exceptional stamina, maintaining a strong pace throughout the race and recording a time of 2m 0.48s, which ranks as one of the fastest 2000m efforts ever seen at Randwick, just shy of Hampton Court's 2013 record of 2m 0.30s.

Trainer Bott was not surprised by the horse's commanding performance.

"To be honest, I would have been disappointed if he didn't win today – he's a very, very good horse,'' Bott said.

"He put the writing on the wall with a great return over the mile (fourth in the Chelmsford Stakes) earlier this month and he backed that up today,'' Bott said.

"The Metropolitan has always been the plan but we have been thinking further ahead.

"The big picture is the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup with him. He has two mile form in Europe and certainly stays the trip at a higher level, and he showed that today.''

Ridden by Tim Clark, The Euphrates ($5) set a solid tempo and held off his rivals convincingly, crossing the line nearly a length ahead of Juja Kibo ($7), with the favourite Soul Of Spain ($3.90) a further length adrift in third.

Clark commented that despite the fast pace and overall time, The Euphrates seemed to be performing with ease.

"He has been off the scene for such a long time but he ran pretty well first-up and credit to Gai and Adrian who were able to put the ground work into him that he could still bounce off that and not put in a flat run,'' Clark said.

"He is starting to get out to a distance range that suits him now. He galloped all the way through the line and was last to pull up.

"We've seen so many imports come to Australia, especially with Gai and Adrian, just put that speed into their legs. He has that great stamina and I look forward when he gets over further."

The progeny of the legendary Frankel, a horse with 14 wins from 14 starts and a Timeform rating of 147, continues to impress. Waterhouse and Bott have previously celebrated Group 1 success with Frankel's sons Sir Delius and Converge.

The six-year-old gelding had not raced for nearly two years prior to his Chelmsford Stakes resumption. His previous record included four wins from 13 starts for O'Brien, with a Listed Marble City Stake victory and a fourth in the Group 1 Irish St Leger behind top horses Kyprios and Vauban.

His dominant Kingston Town Stakes win suggests he is making a significant impact after his extended break.

"He will go to The Metropolitan next run and the further we get with him the better,'' Bott said.

"Today was a dominant performance, it was great to see him stick it out as well as he did.

"He hasn't been racing for two years so I would like to think there is further improvement to come.

"He has that brilliant tactical speed, that cruising speed, and that ability to sustain it which is going to open up some great staying feature races for him."

As a result of his impressive win, The Euphrates has shortened to $5 second favouritism for the Group 2 $750,000 The Metropolitan (2400m) at Royal Randwick on October 3. He trails only Aethelwulf ($3), who claimed the Newcastle Gold Cup on Friday.

The stayer has been assigned 52.5kg for the Group 1 $6.5 million Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 17 and 54kg for the Group 1 $10 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) on November 3, with potential for weight penalties in both major races. Those keen on backing The Euphrates in the Caulfield Cup can compare the best betting markets for the race across various online bookmakers.