CHAMPION sprinter Explicit upped the ante in his remarkable comeback to racing by claiming back-to-back Group 2 Ballarat Cup victories last Friday night.<\/p>\n
Second favourite at $4, the son of Bernardo put his seven rivals to the sword to win the feature race by two and three-quarter lengths ahead of the favourite Gold Force and Flying Zulu.<\/p>\n
His 24.69 winning time was just .03 of a second outside the track record, set in January this year by Hotel Whiskey One.<\/p>\n
It was the Jason Thompson-trained star’s first Group race win since his surprise comeback to racing in late-March, after being retired to stud only a few months earlier following his triumph in the Group 1 Phoenix.<\/p>\n
His 30th win from 42 starts pushed Explicit beyond the $2-million mark in earnings, within reach of Wow She’s Fast’s all-time stakes record of $2.5 million.<\/p>\n
Thompson, who also trains the third placegetter Flying Zulu, hailed a remarkable effort by Explicit.<\/p>\n
“His resume shows what a superstar he is,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Obviously we retired him at the end of last year, but decided to bring back him to racing.<\/p>\n
“He’s had five starts back (for three wins) \u2026 so, to win a Ballarat Cup is probably one of the highlights of his career.<\/p>\n
“He was going really well at stud, but he just wasn’t happy. He was kind of telling us that he didn’t want to be retired.<\/p>\n
“Since he’s come back to racing, he’s a completely different dog.<\/p>\n
“His stud work has picked up and he’s showing he is enjoying racing, going as good as he ever has.<\/p>\n
“It’s been a win all-round.”<\/p>\n
Thompson has no fixed timeline on when the end will come on phase two of his 2024 Melbourne Cup winner’s racing career.<\/p>\n
“I probably prematurely retired him last time. I know the dog well \u2013 I think he will tell us when enough is enough,” he said.<\/p>\n
“For the age he is (three-and-a-half), he certainly hasn’t been over raced. We’ll just take as it comes.”<\/p>\n
The Ballarat Cup was Group win number seven for Explicit.<\/p>\n
Adding to another big night for the kennel, Thompson could not have been happier with Flying Zulu’s third in the cup.<\/p>\n
“I thought his run was really good – as good as Explicit’s,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I think he came from fifth \u2013 he didn’t begin that well \u2013 but he certainly finished the race off really well.<\/p>\n
“It’s good for us that if one of them can’t win, with a bit of luck, the other one can get the job done.<\/p>\n
“We’re lucky to have two great dogs like these two at the one time. One’s won over $2 million and the other has won over a million.<\/p>\n
“To have two greyhounds like that is a massive effort.”<\/p>\n
With an eye to the future, Thompson was stoked with the win of Tarawi Therese two races later on cup night.<\/p>\n
The daughter of Bernardo boosted her early career record to five wins from six starts and is already being spoken about as a future cups contender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CHAMPION sprinter Explicit upped the ante in his remarkable comeback to racing by claiming back-to-back Group 2 Ballarat Cup victories last Friday night. Second favourite at $4, the son of Bernardo put his seven rivals to the sword to win the feature race by two and three-quarter lengths ahead of the favourite Gold Force and […]<\/p>\n