Alpha Zulu lands champion greyhound trainer Jason Thompson his sixth Bendigo Cup triumph

Thompson claimed back-to-back Bendigo Cup wins for the second time in his star-studded career with his emerging superstar Alpha Zulu sprinting away to an emphatic victory over the 425m distance.

The champion trainer previously won the race with El Galo in 2008, Peggy May (2012), Ronan Izmir (2013), Aston Bolero (2016) and Typhoon Sammy (2022).

Drawn in box eight, the son of son of 2018 Bendigo Cup finalist Orson Allen and Cyclone Jebel started $2.60 favourite, ahead of Shima Shadow ($3.60) and kennelmate Unleash Collinda ($5.30).

Alpha Zulu was always handily placed after settling in second place behind the Rebecca Gibbons-trained Zella Bale.

He raced to the lead entering the home straight and powered away from his rivals to win by 3.7-lengths over Zella Bale, who bravely held on for second, with Nineteen Crimes running third.

Alpha Zulu's best of the night 23.49 seconds was slightly quicker than his cup heat win five nights earlier.

While better suited when he's drawn near the fence, Thompson could not fault the performance of his star on the rise, who only turned two years old last month.

"He's just a good dog. He's not very old and he hasn't had a lot of races, but the way he is going at the moment he is certainly in good form and going very well," he said.

"As soon as he began safely and got himself into second, he was always going to be very strong at the end of the race.

"He did it well, did everything right and ran a very good time. I couldn't have been happier with him."

The Bendigo Cup was Alpha Zulu's first Group race win.

It followed his first Group race placing in last month's Warragul St Leger final.

Thompson's other starter in the race, Unleash Collinda, finished fourth.

Thompson said Alpha Zulu would now be aimed at some of Victoria's biggest races in the latter part of the year, including the Melbourne Cup, and 'hopefully a slot in The Phoenix'.

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Australia's richest greyhound race, The Phoenix will be run at The Meadows on December 16 and is worth $1.65 million, with a winner's purse of $1 million.

In futures betting markets, he is rated a $12 chance for the Melbourne Cup and $7 for The Phoenix.

The early favourite in both markets is his kennelmate Postman Pat, who was third for Thompson in Friday night's Million Dollar Chase Final (520m) at Wentworth Park.

Thompson was loath to rate Alpha Zulu in comparison to his previous five Bendigo Cup winners.

"I never rate them. It's hard enough to win a race like the Bendigo Cup," he said.

"They're all different, but they've all been very good dogs.

"Alpha Zulu is certainly young enough to be back there next year, so it might be him going around again.

"There's a long way to go until next year, but hopefully we do have something ready to go in the series."

Alpha Zulu boosted his career record to 13 wins and four placings from 18 starts for $136,625 in stakes earnings.

He has won three of four starts at Bendigo, including this year's Gold Rush Maiden final in April.

He is part-owned by the Thompson family in partnership with former Brisbane Lions triple-premiership star Jonathan Brown and Fox Sports' Steve Crawley.

Thompson said the Bendigo Cup triumph was a huge thrill for Brown.

"He loves the dogs and had been at me for a while to buy him a dog for a while and we were lucky enough to get this one," he said.

"He's had a great time racing him."

In Friday night's other feature, Your Colour Room won the Bendigo Spring Cup for Pearcedale trainer Andrew Paraskevas.

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