There was to be no fairytale ending to the fine career of Slade Power in the Darley Classic at Flemington in Australia on Saturday morning, with the five-year-old finishing lame having run below his best. However, that unfortunate ending should not lead us to overlook what was involved for him to just to turn up.

While the current crop of Irish-trained sprinters are something of a golden generation, in general, sprinting is the division that the Irish tend to make the least impact in at an international level. On the other hand, the Australians live and die by their sprinters. The majority of their substantial breeding industry is heavily geared towards speed and precocity and that is what they pride themselves on the most.