This was not the strongest field of stayers and the Awapuni track was very biased today towards leader or on pacers so you had to be there or thereabouts turning for home or had no chance. After it seems a year or more of substandard and awful wet footing and track presentation at this venue the pendulum swung the other way and it was almost too hard for many runners. The Good3 rating saw times on the day not super quick and this is often the case if the ground is too hard underfoot as many horses will simply not stretch out fully and push through the pain barrier on near concrete. The winner of this G3 was Perfect Start that had won the lead up event and the visiting Matamata trained mare came from a sweet run fifth or sixth the outer almost throughout. She took the length of the home straight however to run down the leader Dubai Belle (which has finished second as well in the lead up race). Mares filled the top five positions over the line and simply dominate New Zealand racing at all levels now such are the advantages given and preferences afforded from weights to higher stakes and bonuses. Third home was a strong closing Duquesa with Dragon Beauty taking the inside route the run home for fourth and Anniestar making ground late for fifth. There were some flops and that can be put down to the footing being too firm for some wet trackers and also the track bias was rampant so G1 winners under WFA like Ransomed were awful in finishing third last. He never cleared the rear trio from the outset. The winning time of 2:21.72 is reasonable but nothing fantastic and was the seventh success for Perfect Start. It was the furthest the mare had scored at the 2300m today and gave her exemption for some of the bigger Cups to come whether that be through guaranteed invite or local ratings points skyrocketing in a season of suspect staying depth. Whether this is a true summer Cups guide for New Zealand is dubious as the stamina of many in the field was suspect prior and many wet trackers or winter gallopers going to the well once too often contested the race. Duquesa looks the best stayer in the field for next year as she does seem to have matured at last and having a mum that won the Caulfield/Melbourne Cup double does help.