Missrock was going to be scratched an hour before the Percy Sykes Stakes – her first run since recovering from a broken pelvis.
But after being cleared to run, she showed her quality to win the Group Two race for two-year-old fillies.
Missrock
She only beat one runner home in her last run at Sandown in November and trainer Robbie Laing knew something was wrong.
“It took four of us to get her on to the float to get her home,” Laing said.
“She’d fractured her pelvis.”
Missrock has been back in Laing’s stables for four weeks since recovering from the injury.
“She’s now missing about a foot of muscle in her rump,” he said.
“Near her tail is just terrible to look at.”
Looks counted for nothing in the Percy Sykes as Missrock, an $11 chance, defied her rivals to score by a half neck from Prompt Response ($6) and Spright ($17).
“It helps when they’ve got a big V8 motor,” Laing said.
“She’s done a remarkable job.”
But the Missrock almost didn’t make it to the barrier.
The drama before the race was what Laing described as one of the many “ifs” coming into the race.
“When we got her here to the races, I don’t know whether she had a twinge in her back or something, but we couldn’t get her plates on,” Laing said.
After the farrier did his job, Missrock was given the green light to start.
Missrock will now be sent to the spelling paddock before she returns in the spring with the Thousand Guineas at Caulfield firmly in her sights.
“I think she is a beautiful, imposing-looking filly,” jockey Hugh Bowman said.
“All I can think of is Thousand Guineas in the spring time. Keep an eye on her.”
