And that is certainly the case in the Nitto Denko Handicap, a mile contest that sees a number of foreign horses, who will hope to be competitive in the spring feature, make their seasonal bow.

All are now trained in Australia and one of the most interesting is the top weight Duretto, now in the care of Matt Cumani in Ballarat.

Last year the son of German stallion Manduro came to Australia for a cups preparation when trained by leading English handler Andrew Balding, and he exceeded many people's expectations with a fourth-place finish in the Caulfield Cup, less than three lengths short of winner Best Solution.

Duretto then sustained an injury before he could take his place in the field for the Melbourne Cup and this is his first start since his brave Caulfield Cup effort.

He will undoubtedly come on for the run over a distance short of his best, but any positive performance will augur well for his prospects in the big cups again this season.

Another fascinating entry in this race is Yulong Prince, now in the care of Chris Waller, for whom he is making his debut.

The five-year-old began his racing career in South Africa, where he won at Turffontein and Greyville, but his last two starts came during the Dubai World Cup carnival at Meydan.

In one of them he took on one of the best mares in the world in Almond Eye, but not surprisingly – he started at 100-1 that day – he found the opposition too hot. The handicap company on Saturday should suit much better.

The declarations also include another Waller-trained entry in Captain Cook, an import formerly in the Newmarket stable of ex-champion UK trainer Sir Michael Stoute.

His career-best performance came more than two years ago when he won the group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown under Ryan Moore. This will be his first start since July 2018.

Also in opposition will be two of Lloyd Williams' army of former Coolmore imports in US Army Ranger, whose career highlight came in 2016 when he was a fast-finishing second in the Epsom Derby, and Douglas Macarthur.

The latter has not started since September 2017 when he was down the field in the St Leger at Doncaster, the final English classic of the season.

That race was won by his Coolmore stablemate Capri, but runner-up was Crystal Ocean, currently the world's highest-rated horse, with Stradivarius, rated the best stayer on the planet, in third place that day. He could certainly pay to keep an eye on.