The strength of the field this year is more than dubious and whether this is a G1 sprint anymore is almost certainly an answer in the negative. The move to set weights and penalties since 2009 has seen two of the longest priced winners ever in the history of the race (Jacowils and Miss Raggedy Ann) and even a couple of Australian sprinters well past their best came over and won (A Gold Trail and Atomic Force). Bounding today became the first 3yo filly to win the race since (My) Gold Hope scored in 1981 in the hands of David Peake for the master trainer Ray Verner. She carried 49kg but then the race was a genuine G1 Open Handicap. Interestingly on a dead track the filly ran 1:10.87 some thirty-three years ago and won by three quarters of a length beating Valencia (won the race the next year to enhance the form worth) and Royal Fencer. Bounding won by a half a length today carrying 52kg (the minimum weight) and clocked 1:10.25 also on dead footing. The filly in her prior start was the victim (like bettors that made her odds on were too) of as bad a piece of nonsensical riding you will see at G1 level anywhere when second in the 1000 Guineas against her own age and sex. Today the same rider Mark Du Plessis was wide again but this time reading what was an icky Ellerslie track much better by leading out then crucially holding the front albeit angled deeper deliberately. She never held less than a neck lead the entire race and was given her head inside the 200m to fight the opposition off which she did with aplomb. This filly has never finished worse than second lifetime and has two key ingredients of size and speed. She was the lone Australian bred runner in the race so no surprise about winning sprint races there looking at the bigger picture. Australian bred horses are now winning G1 races at will in New Zealand, which says their breed is leaps and bounds ahead of what is on offer here now. Her formlines however are not trustable at this moment outside New Zealand as the three times she has been beaten have come behind Recite, Ruud Awakening and Costa Viva (all female gallopers). Recite has been a tad disappointing this season so far looking a notch down at this particular time and Ruud Awakening has in five runs in Australia yet to pay a dividend being outclassed each time. Costa Viva was beaten at her next start after winning the G1 1000 Guineas and to be fair Bounding should have won that race for fun so the jury is not just out but in fact made their decision being already out of quarantine and home for the weekend! Waterford the luckless runner up today (like a pin ball the early stages from rivals) has been tried twice in Queensland for a fifth and a tenth, so it is hard to find any confidence boosting form thread. The quinella in the 2014 Railway was a filly and a mare but this is now not a trend in New Zealand racing but a domination bordering on a manmade monopoly. Historical data backs this up with for example between 1990 and 1999 there were two female winners of the Railway in that decade (20%) Between 2000 and 2009 there have been five female winners (50%) and so far from 2010 to 1014 we have three female winners (running at 60%) and that should also be tempered with the fact the other two male winners this current decade were older Australian sprinters. The proof is clear-cut and female gallopers are also given every possible bit of help from sex allowances to extra bonus races/perks and blacktype events just for them plus of course they can run in almost any race in a season. This is a dangerous path to continue treading regarding the relevance of New Zealand racing plus breeding and therefore selling as overseas buyers have already cottoned on the form is not trustable. Female dominated Group and Listed races mean no male can become a credible sire so unless they do something in Australia their future is stark. Little Wonder fought well for third but would be Listed at very best outside New Zealand and the fourth finisher Durham Town was thrown in at 56kg but fourth was his lot. Durham Town is barely a G3 sprinter outside New Zealand. Another worrying thing about the result for realism is Pizzazz finished fifth equal beaten just over two lengths and that horse was sent home from Hong Kong as uncompetitive. Pizazz went seven runs in a row in Hong Kong before being banished that started with a ninth then second last then third last then last then second last then last then second last. He was a Class Two sprinter in Hong Kong yet this now 7yo can finish fifth at G1 in New Zealand and bear in mind prior he won here at Listed level is simply mind bogglingly Fleur De Lune was a sound fifth equal at 56kg but she has not won a race since capturing the Railway in 2013 under the gift weight of 54.5kg. The winners of the Railway have for most of this century had a bleak future afterwards in terms of wins and performance but at least Bounding has time on her side. Natuzzi was the eyecatcher out of the race in finishing a luckless eighth and he will be a force over the rest of summer and into the autumn with left-handed racing. The rail was out 4m this year and after the 4.5m last year it is not a good look as G1 racing to be credible must be with the rail true surely or else manmade factors (bias) come into play. The sight of the vast majority of the field in a G1 sprint this year using the middle of the track almost throughout is visually damning. One other measure of note is the G3 juvenile winner on the day in Vinnie Eagle, an Australian bred, clocked 1:10.95 and looked the part. Sure a downpour afterwards and the track being opened up would have played a role but the juvenile time was even allowing for that was still less than a second or under six lengths inferior. Go back one year on a good track and the time difference between the G3 juvenile winner and G1 Railway winner was 1:11.52 and 1:09.21 or two and a half seconds (15 lengths). Bounding and Waterford being female gallopers will dominate whatever New Zealand races they contest but whether the form is relevant outside the country then all the facts and form threads say no at this point. Natuzzi is the one male sprinter that can do something at Trentham this summer regarding the G1 Telegraph, which should be his next outing. Several races in New Zealand are very tenuous at best to hold their G1 international ratings now and the Railway is one as it simply is nowhere near that level at set weights and penalties because the depth of a likely field is non-existent as it has been in recent years. A dose of realism can surely only be a good thing for all facets of the industry as the keeping up appearances approach is now doing much more harm than good.