Superstar Explicit was retired after winning both the Melbourne Cup and the Phoenix in December 2024. In the most brilliant fashion he needed a bit of luck in Melbourne Cup and found it at the first turn. However in the Phoenix he was clearly the best dog in the field and blew his high quality opponents away with a masterful display of chasing speed. A master of both ventures he was unbeaten at Sandown and he won eight from 12 at the Meadows. Below are the details of both wins.
Explicit Races Into Retirement With Phoenix
By Adam Dobbin – the Greyhound Recorder.
Superstar sprinter Explicit has enshrined himself in greyhound racing folklore with a stunning victory in the Group 1 The Phoenix (525m) at The Meadows on Saturday night.
In his swansong to racing, Explicit went out with the loudest of bangs, delivering a complete all round performance to land the $1 million-to-the-winner showpiece in comprehensive fashion for trainer Jason Thompson.
The triumph sees Explicit, winner at 27 of his 37 starts and $1.9m in stakes, enter the stud ranks as a three-time Group 1 winner with his victory in The Phoenix following his Melbourne Cup heroics a fortnight ago and his Temlee success earlier in the year.
And it also capped off a remarkable 2024 for premier trainer Jason Thompson who has annexed 12 Group events including the grand slam of the Victorian sprint races, the Australian Cup (Tim Zoo), Topgun (Excavation) and Melbourne Cup-The Phoenix double with sprint king Explicit.
The Phoenix triumph also saw Thompson scale to $4.4m in prize money earnings in 2024 which sets a new Australasian record.
Directly following Explicit’s devastating The Phoenix success, an emotional Seona Thompson was full of praise for their gun sprinter who races into retirement in the most memorable of ways.
“He’s a special, special dog,” Seona Thompson beamed on Racing.com about the son of Bernardo.
“When he won the Melbourne Cup it really took some pressure off and what ever happened tonight was really a bonus.
“I haven’t said this before but Awesome Assassin was always Jason’s favourite dog, we’ve had a lot of good dogs in between, but this dog (Explicit) he just adores so much.
“To be able to share this with the Tullio family is special as well. It is amazing.”
Following the race, Thompson also heaped praise on children Luke and Holly who in recent years have become an even more integral part of the family’s ongoing success.
“Those two kids are just amazing,” Seona beamed.
“Jason and I are just so proud of them. We wouldn’t be doing this now without Luke and Holly.
“And as for my husband (Jason) I might be biased but he’s next level, I don’t think there’s been another one like him.”
Using box eight to perfection, Explicit scored by 2 ¼ lengths on the line from Smooth Plane in 29.72.
Finishing third was rank outsider Daysea’s Rory which ran the race of his brief career representing the Racing Queensland slot.
The performance evoked memories of the inaugural The Phoenix where Spotted Elk represented Queensland and finished a gallant second at bolters odds behind Wow She’s Fast.
While The Phoenix was the highlight at The Meadows on Saturday night it was the Match Race Sprint that got the blood pumping with Tim Zoo outlasting kennelmate Field Day in a thrilling 525 metre slugfest.
Tim Zoo posted 29.62 to score by half-a-length to launch a memorable night for the Thompson family.
Explicit makes Melbourne Cup statement
Superstar Explicit has stamped himself as the sport’s champion greyhound, winning the Melbourne Cup in his penultimate race start to give Team Thompson their fifth triumph in the time-honoured race.
Avoiding trouble at the first turn, Explicit looped the field and kicked clear down the back, and they could not chase the favourite down.
“I don’t know how he did it. How he whipped around them and got to the front, I can’t believe it,” Luke Thompson said.
He’d won a Temlee, but the big majors had eluded Explicit until tonight.
The Melbourne Cup was his second group 1 triumph, adding to a Ballarat Cup, a Shepparton Cup and a Great Chase final. For Team Thompson, the triumph adds to the wins of Light Of Fire (1994), Got A Moment (2012), Black Magic Opal (2013) and Aston Dee Bee (2017).
He’ll have his final start in the world’s richest greyhound race, The Phoenix, on Saturday 21 December, representing Awesome Lodge.
“This dog from day one, we knew he was a group 1 dog,” Thompson told the Racing.com broadcast.
“We knew he was a group 1 dog from the start.
“When he won the Temlee, everyone expected him to win every race from that point on, but they’re tough races to win, it doesn’t matter if you’ve got box one or eight. Anything can happen. All we wanted to see was him win a big group 1 … and he’s done it tonight. I’m just so proud of him.
“It’s what we work hard for. The Melbourne Cup just has that history and prestige to it, and so lucky to win it four times in the past, and to add a fifth one this year, just so grateful to have these unbelievable dogs.”
Kennelmate Joey The Jet finished second from West Australian raider Miss Envy, with rank outsider Buddy Monelli in fourth.
Schillaci was the hard luck story. He looked destined to lead into the first turn from box three, but Sunset Frazier was cramped for room on his heels and he tumbled down, interfering with Schillaci.
Sunset Frazier finished the race and was vetted, found to have a sore left wrist. He will be stood down from racing for seven days. Epitomize was vetted and had no apparent injury.