John Thompson has only had two progeny by sub-fertile stallion Extreme Choice but given both of them have been stakes winners, he would be happy to take on a few more.
The Randwick horseman put the polish on 2021 Listed Woodlands Stakes winner Xtremetime, who sadly suffered a fatal injury during that year’s Silver Shadow Stakes, cutting short her promising career after just four starts.
Saturday’s Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes (1000m) winner Bel Merci is the first horse by Extreme Choice that Thompson can recall having had since, and he reckons she has at least as much ability.
“I think they are the only two Extreme Choices I have trained and they’re both stakes winners,” Thompson said.
Bel Merci was Thompson’s second Gimcrack winner, 13 years after Hussousa took out the same race.
While he doesn’t often play a role in the early-season juvenile features, he says Bel Merci has been one out of the box.
“I don’t normally push my two-years-olds but when they (breeder-owners Bell River Thoroughbreds) gave her to me they said, ‘if you can, get her going early’ and she has just done it herself. She is a very natural, good horse,” he said.
“You can always tell early when they’re pretty good and she has ticked all the boxes from day one.”
