and her last four successes have been achieved by a combined total of nearly 25 lengths. She is the best three-year-old in the US by a country mile, and yet she is available at odds-against with some British bookmakers to win the Distaff, having been odds-on – at prices as short as 1-20 – for her last nine starts.

There is a good reason why. Songbird bestrides her generation but her exceptional record has been compiled entirely in races involving her own age group. To some extent, she has not won 11 races in a row so much as taken the same race several times over, and the Distaff will pit her against an altogether different level of competitor.

Stellar Wind, a four-year-old who has won two of her threeMembers of Australia's Eritrean community claim they are being forced to pay a tax which has been banned by the United Nations.

According to the federal government, if such a practice is occurring in Australia, it would be in breach of both UN sanctions and an Australian government directive.

David (not his real name) who arrived in Australia as a skilled migrant in 2009, says he's been forced to pay the 2 per cent tax since a visit to the Eritrean Consulate in Melbourne; the country's only diplomatic presence in Australia.

"They get to know you or catch you when you go to the consulate," he says.

He has shown SBS receipts that indicate the payments he's made over the years to the consulate.

David says he is taxed based on his earnings