Tower Of London was more impressive than the bare result, but will he come back or go up in distance for future targets?

Laurel River was the most striking winner of the night at Meydan on Saturday, taking apart the Dubai World Cup field, but the most interesting horse for the coming months in Europe is Tower Of London.

Aidan O'Brien's four-year-old was more impressive than the bare result gives him credit for in the 2m Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup. Tower Of London was held up off a steady pace but quickened exceptionally, running the penultimate 200 metres in 10.8 seconds (according to the Gmax figures), upwards of 0.40 seconds faster than any of his rivals. His 22.2 second final 400 metres was the quickest of the four turf race winners.

A 119 Racing Post Rating sees Tower Of London credited with a bit extra over the official margin. The question now is whether he drops in distance for races such as the Coronation Cup at Epsom and the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot, or whether they point him towards the Ascot Gold Cup.