Brook hangs in

DESPITE going around one of the shortest-priced favourites in the Lizrene Classic for some years, champion Queenslander Miss Brook ($1.60) had to hold off two bold challengers on her way to capturing the 2007 Group 3 Lizrene Classic Final, worth $29,000, at Sandown Park in a time of 42.33 seconds on Thursday.
Miss Brook almost began too well, contesting the lead with outsider Infinite Charm ($24) on passing the winning post for the first time.
Having wrested the lead by the beginning of the back straight, she became a sitting target for Sky Hazzard ($9.40) initially and then Kibble Kruncha ($5), who stormed home for second in the shadows of the post.
However, Miss Brook found enough in the closing stages to score by a half-length with a further half-length to third.
It was a particularly special victory for Miss Brook’s owner and trainer Paul Felgate, who has patiently nursed the rising superstar back from a five month lay-off due to an injury she sustained in late October shortly after taking out the Group 2 Sir John Dillon Memorial at Sandown.
The bitch will now go on to contest the Group 1 Radio Sport 927 Sandown Cup on 10 and 17 May, when she is likely to face one of the strongest cup fields of recent years.
In addition to her rivals from the Lizrene final, the heats are expected to attract Flashing Floods, Miss Grub and last year’s winner Sargent Major.