The field was a quality one with many fillies having upside galore but the race was run and won in a farcical time and turned out to be a sprint home, so none the wiser as to the 3yo pecking order yet. The 1:37.90 posted on good footing is the fourth slowest in 34 runnings since the race became G1 and the three that were run in worse time do not make for sobering comparison. Last year on an absolute bog track saw the slowest ever run 1000 Guineas of 1:40.09 by Planet Rock while in 1991 the 1:38.09 by Merry Maiden from a wide gate was the second worst clocking. Emerald led and walked them across the top before sprinting the run home in 1996 on dead ground to clock 1:38.04 for the third worst time. Rollout The Carpet deserved a G1 win as she has thrown away the ultimate prize before but at the mile and with some midrace pressure her fight the closing stages may well not have been able to occur. We will never know. An inquiry saw a protest by the runner up against the winner but it looked a longshot to see the placings alter as when you get that amount of home straight to get in front but cannot then grasping at straws comes too mind. It was the first win in the race for rider Mark Du Plessis, the Zimbabwean born internationally proven rider, who has now faced the extreme highs and lows at Riccarton. His not realizing where the winning post was atop Salt in 2004 (also in a 3yo race) was the trough but today was the peak. It was the third G1 win for Jeff McVean and the second G1 win for his training partner and daughter Emma-Lee Browne, after a Leica Guv (2001 NZ Derby when just Jeff prepared) and Jungle Rocket (2009 NZ Oaks for Jeff and Emma). Leica Guv led in his win and dictated before kicking clear, while Jungle Rocket was midfield the fence and surged through the run home. Rollout The Carpet was the third Australian bred winner of the 1000 Guineas in the last four years following on from Planet Rock (2011) and Katie Lee (2009). The unbeaten colt Sacred Falls won the G1 2000 Guineas narrowly last week here at Riccarton from the lone filly in the race, the Australian bred Oasis Rose (ironically ridden by Du Plessis). He clocked 1:34.95, which is nearly a staggering eighteen lengths faster than Rollout The Carpet today, and it was no super time for Sacred Falls historically either in the 2000 Guineas. However racing is what you beat and not always how, as shown by Rollout The Carpet prior to today sitting outside the pace at the often biased Te Rapa sand-slitted track and getting run down late into second by Scared Falls. The formlines are somewhat holding (albeit blurred through the super Oasis Rose performance last week) with Fix third in the race mentioned directly above and then finishing third today. Waterford (which finished fifth in that Te Rapa race won by Sacred Falls from Rollout The Carpet and Fix) just missed giving the Tony Pike and Mark Donoghue training partnership their second G1 success in a week. They prepare Scared Falls and Leith Innes rode it and Waterford so he two nearly nailed the only two G1 races held in the South Island. Likewise we see Du Plessis was close to winning the G1 double too. It was no surprise with such a sedate middle 800m (after an early 400m dash for positions and then a 400m drag race home) that the two fillies sitting second and third filled those positions at the post. The Diamond One was the first South Island trained filly home and she sat handy the fence throughout. There have only been two South Island trained runners of the 1000 Guineas this century. Many a hard luck story and a large number of the runners sat wide but still boxed on bravely in a sprint home. Emerald Queen (fifth) and Misstrum (tenth) ran home very stoutly and the latter really did spear between runners like a knife through butter the last 100m. Lovetessa was perhaps the hard luck story of the race as the big filly but for losing her footing at the jump and scrambling before getting going would almost have certainly won the race. She finished ninth beaten just over four lengths and lost that early plus settled down in the last trio before trying to unleash down the outer with 400m to go. Hands and heels late by her rider told you she had tried her guts out but she will get her dues later this season. Notable mentions of brave efforts include Soriano (sixth), Lucky Country (seventh) and Ray’s Girl (eighth) with the first and last names of this trio never getting near the fence throughout. Perfect Start (sixteenth) blundered badly at the start and nearly lost her rider so to end up beaten ten lengths is not as a bad an effort as it sounds or reads considering she was last until the final 200m. Meleka Belle (thirteenth) sadly bled from both nostrils and is now banned from ever racing in New Zealand again as it was her second bleed. She will become a young mum or be forced to race in the USA, which for a tidy filly is a shame. All in all a disappointingly run G1 event as it left more questions unanswered and created some new ones too, so the top filly is far from being crowned at this point. One plus is the majority of fillies would not have had a hard race being just a 400m sprint home and it may reap them dividends later in the season. Follow the form out of the race still with confidence as too many fillies of the future went around today that should enjoy a surfeit of success.