Picture: Steve Hart
Gimcrack Stakes winner Bel Merci is again in work forward of a Golden Slipper bid
Revered Randwick coach John Thompson has spent the previous couple of seasons rebuilding his steady and he’s hoping Gimcrack Stakes winner Bel Merci can usher in his subsequent chapter.
With the retirement a number of years in the past of the likes of stakes performers Dreamforce and Candy Deal, and a deadly race day harm to the promising Xtremetime, Thompson was left with a big void to fill.
Whereas he has hardly ever been wanting Saturday-class horses, stakes grade gallopers have been more durable to come back by, however in two-year-old Bel Merci, he’s optimistic he has discovered his subsequent carnival contender.
“It’s good to have a great horse. It pumps the entire steady up and every part flows off the again of it,” Thompson stated.
“She’s a pure. Simply uncooked velocity, sound, a aggressive horse.
“All the things you do you’ve obtained to sluggish her down as a result of she simply needs to get on the market. She is an actual athlete.”
Bel Merci was a dominant winner of the Gimcrack Stakes (1000m) on debut in October and the 2 fillies who stuffed the placings behind her, O’Ole and Memo, have subsequently run one-two within the Magic Thousands and thousands Wyong 2YO Traditional.
Thompson’s cost has not too long ago returned to the steady after having fun with a spring spell and he’s happy with the way in which she has furnished.
“She had a great six-week spell and she or he has achieved properly,” he stated.
“She grew a bit, strengthened up a bit.
“She has simply began going three-quarter tempo and she or he is trying the products.”
Bel Merci is pencilled in for a barrier trial at Randwick on January 13 earlier than connections plot a path in direction of the $5 million Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on March 22.
She is presently on the second line of 2025 Golden Slipper betting at $15, behind $11 pre-post favorite West Of Swindon with on-line betting corporations.
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