Racing
Group 1 Railway Stakes Preview 2025
We look at the Railway Stakes, Perth’s oldest and grandest Group One race.
First run in 1887, the Railway Stakes is up there with the oldest races on the Australian calendar.
It's only 26 years younger than the Melbourne Cup, eight years than the Caulfield Cup, and pre-dates the Cox Plate by 35 years.
This year's full field of 16 is competitive, although perhaps lacking that top end talent, either locally or from interstate.
Western Empire is a former Railway winner, and byTimeform
's measure, the equal best winner of the race since the turn of the century – rated 121 there courtesy of his 4.5 length romp in 2021.Four years on, he aims to become the first horse since Manikato to win the same Australian Group 1 four years apart, and the third dual Railway winner- the latest of which was Luckygray, who ties him at 121 for the best Timeform Railway winner.
Typically, the Railway Stakes has been won by those on the minimum 53kg. In the past 10 years, 9 winners have carried 53kg and the outlier had 53.5kg.
In that time, 88 horses have run with 53kg, meaning an average of 8.8 runners, or a tick over half the field, per year, and they do more than their fair share of winning, with the market expecting 5.6 wins compared to the 9 they actually delivered.
Remarkably this year there is just one horse on the minimum, Storyville, who dashed best in a messy R J Peters Stakes last week, denying long-time Railway favourite Cosmic Crusader the golden ticket in.
Looking at the Racing And Sports Timeform weight-adjusted ratings, the best last start performance is Depth Of Character, who ran to a rating of 118 when fourth in a hot Golden Eagle behind Autumn Glow.
That is tempered a bit by the fact he started $91, but a repeat of that performance with 53.5kg would almost surely win this race, however it is far more likely he regresses, especially drawn barrier 20.
Super Smink won the Lee Steere Stakes in a farcically run affair, the time figure in the 50s on that day and over 3 full seconds (~18 lengths) slower than three-year-old King Of Light over the same trip.
She ran to a Timeform rating of 112 there and was very good in last year's Railway but 56kg this year sees her with a bit to find.
I can't discount Western Empire through the Lee Steere, he was just left with far too much to do, finishing better than anything off the pedestrian pace. 59kg is a tough ask, but perhaps less so this year with a truer spread of weights.
Watch Me Rock is favourite having beaten key rivals in the Asian Beau Stakes, getting the ideal run there in a bunched finish. He's rated 109 at Timeform but I'd imagine there's a new peak incoming, dropping 3kg off that.
The other horse of interest is Diamond Scene in the Bob Peters colours. He won the Eurythmic Stakes first up off 290 days, beating Watch Me Rock who then won the Asian Beau.
Rated 111 by Timeform there, he should be an improver to 1600m and maps for every chance.
At double figures in betting, Diamond Scene makes most appeal in a tough race.
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