THE QIPCO 1000 Guineas was a truer test than the colts’ version but was another race which raised questions as well as answers.

Conditions were quicker on Sunday than they had been on Saturday, but not by a huge amount, and Winter’s winning time of 95.66s compares well to Churchill’s 96.61s 24 hours earlier even after allowance has been made for that fact.

The filly gets a 119 timefigure which is joint third best for a winner of the 1000 Guineas this century, behind Finsceal Beo in 2007 (123) and Homecoming Queen in 2012 (120).

Connections will be hoping Winter follows the example of the former, who won the Irish equivalent soon after, and not the latter, who was not seen again after finishing fourth at the Curragh and then flopping at Royal Ascot.

The leader in this year’s 1000 Guineas got to three fulongs out 1.8s (nearly a dozen lengths) quicker than the leader in the 2000 Guineas had done, but it was around there that the problems started for Winter’s stable companion Rhododendron. She ran into traffic between the three and two furlong poles, had to be extricated sharply in the penultimate furlong and only really hit top stride in the final furlong.

Winter had two lengths to spare at the line, but it might have been a different story on another day. To my mind, Rhododendron – who posted a 114 timefigure despite adversity – looks a top filly in the making and easily the likeliest winner of the Oaks at Epsom. Odds of 5/2 at the time of writing look tempting.

Third-placed Daban (114 timefigure) took a further step forward despite a well-run mile seeming plenty far enough for her, while fourth-placed Talaayeb (111) did well for a filly with just one previous run to her name.

The result of the 1000 Guineas might not have been what most people expected, but that fast time shows it should be taken seriously as a piece of form.

It is also clear now, and arguably was previously (if not to me), that the form of April’s 1000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown – in which Winter had been second to Hydrangea – was smart, despite a modest overall time. Bean Feasa, fifth in that race, was the latest to boost it with a 98-timefigure win in another 1000 Guineas Trial at the course on Sunday.