DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – She is the almond of Japan racing’s eye, the big apple, the nuts, and Saturday night in Dubai marked her first step toward taking on all le monde. Yes, the French is appropriate, because people with top-class middle-distance horses in Japan have a laser focus – to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. And after leaving home for the first time, Almond Eye looked, landing the Group 1, $6 million Dubai Turf on Saturday night at Meydan Racecourse, like she might be the first horse to do it. Her margin of victory under Christophe Lemaire was 1 1/4 lengths, but the runner-up, the Japanese mare Vivlos, is really good, winner of the 2017 Dubai Turf and second in the race last year. Consider as well: Almond Eye raced for the first time since capturing the Japan Cup on Nov. 25, a 1 1/2 -mile race likely closer to the filly’s best than the 1 1/8 miles (1800 meters, to be exact) she ran Saturday night. Lemaire had no desire to put on a show and rack up a big win: He spoke with embarrassment about having to give Almond Eye two pops of the crop at about the furlong grounds to keep her mind in the game. “I made the front earlier than I wanted,” he said. How he made the front was the best part of the race. Almond Eye, a little hot in the parade ring and going to the gate, broke very sharply and could have made the lead had it been desired, but Lemaire reined her in to race seventh down the backstretch. Approaching the race’s one turn he got three-wide cover from Wootton, drafted behind him around the bend, and then eased out. In the clear, Almond Eye turned on the jets – she must have, because in a few strides she had rolled up to the lead. It’s just that Lemaire’s hands had barely rippled the reins and Almond Eye, from all appearances, had accelerated without really even trying. The race was over with a little less than three-sixteenths of a mile left. “It was her first time this year,” Lemaire said. “I wanted her to win, but only doing as much as she needed.” Almond Eye clocked 1:46.78 for the 1800 on good turf. Vivlos, going off to be a broodmare now, capped a wonderful career with a stout second, coming home a half-length in front of Lord Glitters, who followed Almond Eye around the turn but had no chance to match her upper-stretch move. “We’ve taken some good milers taken around the world, and he’s probably better than them,” said England-based trainer David O’Meara, who threw out the J.T. Lockinge Stakes as a possible next race for Lord Glitters. “I thought it was a fantastic run.” Almond Eye, by Lord Kanaloa out of Fusaichi Pandora, by Sunday Silence, lost her career debut over 1400 meters but has since won seven straight, capturing the Fillies Triple Crown at distances between one mile and 1 1/2 miles, before facing older horses and males for the first time in the Japan Cup. She’s owned by Silk Racing Company, a partnership, and trained by the delightful Sakae Kunieda, a one-time equine veterinarian whose successful training career includes another Fillies Triple Crown winner, Apapane. Kunieda, who reiterated the plan to rest Almond Eye through the summer and give her one Arc prep in Europe, tirelessly did dozens of interviews here all week having brought to Dubai a horse that already ranks as one of Japan’s most famous. Japanese horses have mass followings, and the Dubai Racing Club granted 68 media credentials this year to Japan-based writers and photographers. The elven, joyful Kunieda dealt with that horde generously while gamely employing solid-if-unspectacular English with the Western press. Now would be a good time to start boning up on his French – his brilliant filly is eying Paris in the fall.