Newgate Farm’s Extreme Choice went very close to a juvenile stakes double at Randwick on Saturday with his colt Tempestuous going down by a head when second in the Group III ATC Breeders’ Plate and then his well related filly Bel Merci showed real class to win the Group III ATC Gimcrack Stakes (1000m).
A homebred for the Ferguson family of Bell River Thoroughbreds, who also bred and sold her sire Extreme Choice, Bel Merci did a nice job when second at the official Sydney trials last month and took good benefit from that outing.
The John Thompson trained filly had the benefit of an inside barrier and gave Chad Schofield a sweet ride, surging up the fence to find the lead and she kicked away down the running to win by a length and a half over O ‘Ole, a first crop daughter of Ole Kirk, who sired King Kirk to win the Breeders Plate.
John Thompson was full of praise for a filly he believes is something special.
“Super. She's a lovely filly. I'm just so rapt for the breeders, Bell River (Bell River Thoroughbreds), just a lovely filly,” he said.
"She's a star, don't worry about that. She's not trained up at all, that's not me. That's just pure, natural ability there. Spell, Slipper. "
"She's just a natural. She jumped out here before the official two-year-old trials. She was six lengths in front around the home corner and won by 12 (lengths) in her jumpout. She's just a natural two-year-old with ability."
Chad Schofield will be looking to stick with Bel Merci.
"She's very smart. She just helps herself, she's got such a good brain on her for such a young, inexperienced horse. I just want to thank John Thompson,” Schofield said.
"He's been a great supporter of mine for a while and he said to me two months ago, 'come and gallop a little filly, I think she's quite smart'. He knew how good she was and she was just prepared and trained so well for today. She was bombproof and it made my job very easy. "
Bel Merci is a half-sister to stakes-winner All Too Royal and is the ninth winner from 10 foals to race from Group I SAJC Robert Sangster Stakes winner Bel Mer, who is also the grand-dam of a couple of stakes-placed horses in Midnight in Tokyo and Generosity.
Bel Mer was purchased by Ferguson Bloodstock for just $70,000 from a Magic Millions Online Sale in 2020 from Goldin Farms. Subsequently sent to Extreme Choice later that year, she produced a filly that was sold by Bell River Thoroughbreds at Magic Millions last year for $800,000 to Peachester Lodge.
Her next foal for Bell River is Bel Merci, who was withdrawn from Magic Millions and retained. She has a yearling colt by Farnan to follow, but no foal this year after missing to Extreme Choice in 2023.
Bel Merci is the 13th stakes-winner for Extreme Choice, who stands at a fee of $275,000.
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