TWO international performances in the last fortnight stood out above all others. They were the win of Russian Camelot in the South Australian Derby at Morphetville and the easy success of Almond Eye in the Victoria Mile in Tokyo – both meritorious in their different ways.

The remarkable thing about the former was that he was running off level weights at an extended 12 furlongs against horses who were older than him judged by northern hemisphere standards, and yet he beat them comfortably.