Explicit claims 2024 Ballarat Cup with commanding victory
Explicit, the 2024 Shepparton Cup champion, added his second “country cup” title for the year on Friday night, May 31, when he comprehensively won the 2024 Group 2 Ballarat Cup final.
Much like his 24.76 Ballarat Cup heat win, Explicit used box one to advantage in the final to drive up hard along the rail to take control of the race after 100 metres.
From that point, the race was all his, with the black dog bolting away to win the $55,000 to-the-winner final by 4.69 lengths in 24.81.
The commanding win gave the Thompson family their fifth Ballarat Cup win as trainers.
Jason Thompson had previously won the Group 2 race with Whisky Assassin in 2004 and Ronan Izmir in 2013, while Seona Thompson won the feature race with Aston Dee Bee in 2017 and went back-to-back to win the 2018 version of the race with Aston Kimetto.
2024 Group 2 Ballarat Cup – Explicit (24.81) T: Jason Thompson
Explicit's win took his record to 17 wins and three seconds from 22 career starts.
The son of Bernardo and Brueghelino adds the 2024 Ballarat Cup title to his 2024 Shepparton Cup title, his 2024 Group 1 Temlee win, and his 2023 Great Chase victory.
The 33kg dog, who is owned by Amanda Tullio, has now won $376,490 in prizemoney for connections.
Explicit will now likely head toward the GRV Pink Diamond series before targeting the Queensland Winter Carnival feature Group 1 Brisbane Cup heats.