Australian Cup Looms After Slashing Return

GREAT Chase hero Explicit has returned – and returned in thunderous style.

The boom young sprinter extended his career record to eight brilliant wins from 10 starts with a blistering 24.98 victory over the 450 metres at Shepparton on Monday.

It was the first time the Jason Thompson-trained son of Bernardo had been seen at the races since sustaining a slight crack in a metacarpal when scoring at The Meadows on October 28, ruling him out of the Melbourne Cup and a potential berth in The Phoenix.

That performance came a week after winning the Group 3 Great Chase where he defeated kennel mate and last start Group 2 Warragul Cup hero Tim Zoo in emphatic fashion.

On the strength of Monday's mesmerising return, Thompson has put next month's Group 1 Sportsbet Australian Cup at The Meadows firmly on the agenda for the prodigious talent where he is currently $12 in all-in betting.

“He'll have another two runs which should have him perfect for the Australian Cup,” Thompson said.

“He was nowhere near wound up for today, he'd only had three trials going into the race and they deep-harrowed the track last week so I'm real happy with the time he ran considering. Now he's back racing he'll work himself back to peak fitness.

“I think he's come back better.”

With the Australian Cup the only of the major group 1s eluding Thompson, the Pearcedale mentor is poised to take his best team yet into this year's series, with chasers the calibre of Postman Pat, Tim Zoo, Explicit, Alpha Zulu, Umberto and Transponder all firm in markets.

Following the Australian Cup, Thompson has flagged a trip to Perth for the $600,000 The Sandgroper (520m) at Cannington as a possible destination for Explicit.

“I had a few phone calls before Christmas from slot holders and I think it's a race that would work in well,” Thompson said.

Monday's Shepparton card saw another exciting youngster continue his surge through the grades with the Anthony Azzopardi-trained Tattooed a most impressive 25.16 victor, extending his record to five wins from nine starts.