Written by Gerard Guthrie, The Greyhound Recorder.
Written by Gerard Guthrie, The Greyhound Recorder.
Just days after celebrating his second Australian Cup triumph in three years, Jason Thompson has announced the retirement of Tim Zoo, the superstar sprinter that broke the champion trainer’s Cup hoodoo in 2024.
Tim Zoo was striving to qualify for what would’ve been a remarkable third consecutive Australian Cup final when he ran sixth in a semi-final at his 78th and final start.
While he turned four last October, Tim Zoo, a son of Aussie Infrared and Double Supreme, was still more than holding his own in elite company, finishing fourth in the G1 Temlee invitational at his penultimate appearance.
It’s fitting for the 37-kilogram veteran to enter retirement at the conclusion of the Australian Cup series, considering his heroic performances in recent Cup Carnivals, winning the Cup in 2024 and then returning in 2025 to take out the Temlee and come within a half-head of going back-to-back in the Cup.
Tim Zoo (7) wins the 2025 Temlee over kennel mates Flying Zulu (1) and Excavation (8).
“He’s 110 per cent sound and loves his racing, so it is hard to retire him,” said Jason Thompson.
“But it’s the right thing to do for the dog, at the age he’s at.
“If he was to get injured I wouldn’t forgive myself after everything he’s done for us and his owners.
“He’s been a super race dog. He’s been so consistent and he’s been racing in elite company for around two-and-a-half years, since he ran second to Explicit in the (G3) Great Chase in 2023.
“He won a lot of prize money ($848,450) and earned it all too. His total should actually be about $125,000 more, so just under a million, because of the Brisbane Cup being called off last year and they divided the prize money, when he was favourite for the race too.
“He was a very fast dog and still is. The last trial he had on his own was at The Meadows on the Monday before the Temlee and he ran 29.66. And the trial before that he went 25.79 at Ballarat on a Saturday.”
In all, Tim Zoo won 30 races – at an outstanding 38 per cent strike rate – he was a nine-time G1 finalist, also finishing second in last year’s National Sprint Championship.
Underlining his versatility, his resume includes the G2 Warragul Cup (460m) and middle distance G3 Sir John Dillon Memorial (595m) at Sandown Park, clocking a near-record 33.67.
“One of his best wins was the Temlee,” Thompson said.
“We had three in the race, so you’re trying to watch them all, but the main focus was on Flying Zulu because he had box one and I was thinking he was our best chance.
“Flying Zulu looked like he had the race won, but then all of a sudden, this big, black dog in the black rug came from nowhere.”
Tim Zoo will now join the Thompsons’ star-studded Awesome Lodge sire roster, with an enticing service fee of $3300.
“He’s been serving bitches while he’s been racing – he’s probably had eight to ten bitches already,” Thompson said.
“His oldest pups would be five or six months old.
“I couldn’t tell you the last litter we bred, but we’ve actually bred a litter with Tim Zoo, because we absolutely love the dog and he has such a good temperament. We’ve put him to a bitch called Wednesday, she’s a Bernardo bitch and a litter sister to Verdi.
“We think he’ll throw and want to give him a chance.”