Magpie Hector Swoops To Second Carnival Group 1

Exciting NSW stayer Magpie Hector and Forbes trainer Jack Smith claimed their second Group 1 of the Australian Cup Carnival on Saturday night.

In the lead-up to the Australian Cup Carnival, master NSW trainer Jack Smith quipped that his rising staying star Magpie Hector was "about a million dollars" away from being compared to his former superstar Palawa King.

Well, Magpie Hector has made serious inroads into the amount over the last fortnight – in excess of $175,000.

On Saturday night at The Meadows, Magpie Hector completed his domination of the staying features during the Cup Carnival with a gutsy victory in the Group 1 Fanta Bale Super Stayers final (730m), having won the G1 Zoom Top invitational a fortnight earlier.

Magpie Hector became the fourth stayer to complete the Zoom Top – Super Stayers double in the same year, elevating himself into rarefied air alongside Drill ‘Em (2010), Destini Fireball (2013) and the champion that Saturday night's race was named after, Fanta Bale (2018).

It was the second time in three years that Smith's road-trip from Forbes in the Central West of NSW to The Meadows paid the ultimate dividend in the Super Stayers, with Palawa King victorious in 2024.

Magpie Hector and Palawa King, the 2023 NSW Greyhound of the Year, are both sons of Smith's former superstar sprinter Feral Franky.

It was a remarkable feat by both greyhound and trainer, as Magpie Hector has been racing exclusively interstate since the start of the year, having three starts in Queensland, highlighted by running third in the G1 Gold Cup, before campaigning in Melbourne.

Despite running third in his heat to fastest qualifier Mepunga Lara, Magpie Hector started $3.60 favourite from box eight in the $100,000-to-the-winner final, having also had to contend with wide draws in seven in both the Zoom Top and his heat.

Magpie Hector was caught three and four wide for much of the journey, but kept coming to wear down Texas President in 42.67, with another NSW raider in Vodka And Ice running third.

"He just sat three-wide for so long, I thought something had to give, but he just kept coming – unbelievable," Jack Smith said.

"We've just got to pinch ourselves sometimes with these dogs, how lucky we've been. We don't take it for granted."