Brilliant star of the east: why Almond Eye is the equal of Treve and Enable

In an era of superstar fillies and mares, Almond Eye has carved a unique place for herself in 21st century racing history, one which stretches far beyond her staggering career earnings.

To end her glittering career with a glorious defeat of two previously unbeaten Triple Crown winning three-year-olds in Sunday’s Japan Cup was the perfect sign-off and means her legend may actually grow even as she retires to the paddocks.

All being well, Contrail and Daring Tact have two full seasons during which they will be able to remind us of the mighty mare who beat them, with one or both hopefully venturing to Europe during that time.

Almond Eye (black cap) sprints to success ahead of Contrail and Daring Tact in the Japan Cup at TokyoCredit: Masakazu Takahashi

Allowing for the conservative nature of the official Japanese handicapper, Almond Eye must surely be considered at least the equal of Treve and Enable.

She is by that remarkable sprinter/miler Lord Kanaloa and her great – perhaps unique – strength has been the ability to finish off her races in blistering closing fractions at all trips between a mile and a mile and a half.

Just as with Europe's two most recent turf darlings, the wider racing public has also been wonderfully served by the humans surrounding Almond Eye. Christophe Lemaire and trainer Sakae Kunieda have gone to great lengths to share their delight at being associated with her as widely as possible.

Trainer Sakae Kunieda after Almond Eye bowed out with a stunning success in the Japan CupCredit: Masakazu Takahashi

My colleague Kate Hunter travelled from Japan to Meydan with the team ahead of Almond Eye's blistering success in the 2019 Dubai Turf and reported that both jockey and trainer revelled in being "the coolest kids in school". Kunieda had the international press eating out of his hands as he eschewed Hunter's translation skills to conduct his media conference in English.

Most of all, the members of Team Almond Eye were unafraid of a challenge. With Contrail and Daring Tact already committed to the Japan Cup, Kunieda and the principals at Silk Racing decided to follow them in for a grand finale. They were having too much fun not to.

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