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By Ray Hickson

It wasn’t trainer John Thompson’s plan to trial his Golden Slipper hopeful Bel Merci three times heading into her resumption at Rosehill on Saturday but it may have been a blessing in disguise.

Trainer John Thompson (Pic: Bradley Photos).

The Gimcrack Stakes winner’s return has been highly anticipated since her first barrier trial just over a month ago but an “out of character” second trial forced Thompson back to the drawing board.

Just as she was about to move alongside North England, who was to be one of her rivals in the Group 2 $300,000 TAB Silver Slipper (1100m), the filly wanted to get her head to the left and carried Chad Schofield in toward the rails.

Thompson sent her to Kembla Grange seven days after that trial, where she cruised home, and if she wins the Silver Slipper he’ll likely say it was the making of her.

“I’ve found the more I do with her the better she does,’’ Thompson said.

“She had a pretty solid trial at Kembla and it was like it woke her up, the next day she was bouncing around the place. It was quite surreal.

“I don’t know what happened at Rosehill. It dead set caught Chad off guard, he wasn’t expecting it, and his reaction to it was probably the wrong way to go.

“He needed to give her a slap on the right hand shoulder to straighten her up and go rather than grabbing hold of her, and she resented that which made it worse.

“It was her first time away from Randwick and even before the trial she was like a deer in headlights.

“When she went to Kembla she was like a five-year-old gelding, it was like she’d been there before, and everything she did ticked every box.

“It was good and she needed that. In hindsight it’s helped us.”

With Schofield suspended, Zac Lloyd has the ride on Bel Merci at Rosehill and he was the pilot in that third trial.

The filly has drawn barrier two, which pleased Thompson, and he feels her busy schedule will stand her in good stead for what is an important clash with Golden Slipper favourite Wodeton.

Bel Merci, $4 with TAB in the Silver Slipper on Wednesday, defeated Magic Millions winner O’ Ole in the Gimcrack and shares the second line of betting at $11 for the $5 million race in four weeks.

“We’re going to get a clearer picture after this Saturday that’s for sure,’’ he said.

“They’re still two-year-olds early in their career and from here on in they get a bit of pressure put on them. Some horses handle it and some horses don’t.

“It’s a good sign that the more she does the better she seems to get. She’ll be thereabouts, she’s going well and good horses they just run well.”

The boys have won the last six editions of the Silver Slipper with Sunlight (2018) the last filly to be successful.

Thompson is looking for an improved showing from Hell’s Itch in the Midway Handicap (1500m) after being forced to play catch-up with his first-up run.

Under the circumstances he said the gelding’s effort to be beaten two lengths at an unsuitable trip was encouraging but concedes he’ll need some luck from a tricky barrier.

Bel Merci wins a Kembla trial on February 10

“It’s a little bit frustrating but he does get back anyway. He’s improved a lot since his first-up run and he will go well,’’ he said.

“Between his second trial and first-up run he had a foot abscess and missed a couple of days work and went into that a bit underdone.

“They were a bit sharp for him over 1200m but more than anything he needed to get back to full fitness and it brought him on.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Rosehill meeting