By MIKE DILLON
Two things were obvious watching Sunline do an Ian Thorpe on Saturday's $A213,000 Feehan Stakes field in Melbourne.
And they both add up to one of the world's truly great racemares winning her second $A2 million Cox Plate.
Okay, Sunline won by three-and-a-half lengths and the opposition was hardly up to Prix de l'Arc de Triomph standard, but that doesn't tell even half the story.
"She could have won by 20 lengths if I'd really asked her," said rider Greg Childs, never one to go over the top.
Neither is Trevor McKee. He's rarely surprised by much and on those odd occasions he is, he will never give himself up.
This time even he was prepared to admit he was surprised by the authority of Sunline's remarkable win which took her earnings past $5 million.
"Okay, I thought she'd win, but the ease of it surprised me.
"She was doing half pace for the last 120m. Greg eased her right down - she was nearly down to a canter.
"It was remarkable really."
It was also a trainer's dream. No matter how good a horse is, there is always a risk of residual undermining by having hard races leading up to a main target.
To see Sunline having a stroll in the park each time she gets a bit fitter by picking up fat cheques on the way through to the Cox Plate makes the mare's camp sleep even tighter.
Even when Australia's real opposition lines up against Sunline in the Cox Plate, it's difficult to imagine anything other than complete misadventure stopping her winning streak.
Shogun Lodge, Sky Heights, Tie The Knot and Testa Rossa will be added to the list, but as talented as they are, none of them could have done what Sunline did on Saturday.
And she is still not properly fit.
"I'd say she's about 95 per cent fit," said McKee yesterday as he prepared to return to New Zealand.
Sunline is only now starting to lose the bulk of her winter coat, after which she will truly start to thrive.
"Her coat is pouring out and in two weeks everyone will see a difference in her."
For all that, many Australians will not concede Cox Plate victory to the mare.
It is what makes Australia one of the world's most competitive sporting nations.
You hear good judges talking of Sunline's possible vulnerability in a fast-run middle distance.
They point to her defeat when hot favourite in the 2000m Hong Kong Cup last December, when she forced a hot pace herself, and when Intergaze beat her in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney.
If there is a Cox Plate bet more certain than Sunline, it is that the Aussie's will not let her get away with the soft lead that assisted her victory over Tie The Knot last year.
If she tries to lead something will take her on.
It might sound like dreaming because there were reasons behind both the Hong Kong and Queen Elizabeth defeats, but in a scenario in which the Australians find themselves, you've got to hang you hat on something.
Taking on Sunline on a strict class index is not going to work for anyone.
Racing: Sunline cruises into the $5 million club
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