Mercy to show he belongs on the Gold Coast

By Brad Bishop (Racing & Sports)

Stuart Kendrick was happy to see Show Me Mercy prove himself against a Magic Millions contender last time out, but the Sunshine Coast trainer will give him one more chance to prove he belongs in that $3 million race.

The son of Astern will look to build on his already-impressive career record in the $300,000 Group 3 Vo Rogue Plate (1350m) at Doomben.

Show Me Mercy was narrowly beaten by Abounding in the Gold Edition Plate (1200m) on December 16 and confronts another battling it out for Magic Millions 3YO Guineas favouritism, the Chris Waller-trained Chrysaor, this Saturday.

"Hopefully he steps up and shows that he's up to that class," Kendrick said.

"There's a couple in there that are high in the betting for the Magic Millions 3YO race, so I think this will give us a pretty good guide where we sit after the weekend.

"But he's always showed plenty and I think he's got the ability to mix it with those type of horses."

Show Me Mercy will again be ridden by Michael Rodd, who was aboard for the Gold Edition Stakes third placing, with the pair now into barrier two after a couple of early scratchings.

That alley, combined with the step up in distance, present an ideal scenario for Show Me Mercy according to Kendrick.

"From there we should just be able to box-seat and get that good run and hopefully get every opportunity," Kendrick said.

"He probably just hit that little bit of a flat spot at the top of the straight (last start), but once he balanced up Michael Rodd said he really hit the line well.

"He should eat up the 1350 and then the 1400 in a couple of weeks' time."

Show Me Mercy is not the only member of Kendrick's stable who will be on trial for start at the Gold Coast on January 13 with Defiant Boom to debut in the 2YO Handicap earlier in the day.

Kendrick thought the 1200m race was his best chance to secure a last-gasp ticket into the $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic and while the presence of highly-rated Victorian colt Wolfgang has tempered his enthusiasm, he sees positives in a tough test.

"I targeted this race being after the McLachlan and before The Wave races just to try and slot him in, because it's $61,000 to the winner and if you can win that you're probably going to sneak into the field," he said.

"I probably didn't bank on a $1.30 favourite being there, but we'll get a good guide on where we are with him."