Pearl and Explicit getting cosy...

Pearl meets her perfect match

March 2, 2025
It is a decision Andy Lord says he should have wrestled with and had many a sleepless night over, but in the end, he says it was quite simple...'just go to the best'.

And with that theory in mind, Lord has today announced that She’s A Pearl has been mated with Group 1 Melbourne Cup and Phoenix winner, Explicit, for what will be the third litter for his Golden Easter Egg and Million Dollar Chase champion.

“Realistically, there are no rules when it comes to breeding, some crosses work and some don’t, but what I was taught when I was growing up was ‘put the best to the best’ and that’s how we landed on Explicit,” said Andy Lord. 

Some Breeding ‘experts’ may raise their eyebrows of Lord’s decision to go to an unproven, first-season Sire, but for the champion mentor, he never had those doubts.

“While I wouldn’t normally entertain using an untried Sire over such a valuable bitch like ‘Pearl’, you have to be flexible in your thinking, and that’s why I had no reservations about using Explicit.

“He was never hidden, he was never protected, he just kept turning up in the biggest races and he kept beating the best on offer.

“His run at Wentworth Park in the semi-final of the Million Dollar Chase was one of the best runs I have ever seen at that track, and then to go back-to-back winning the Group 1 Melbourne Cup and then the $1m Phoenix at The Meadows just confirmed what I thought, he was a true champion,” said Lord.
She’s A Pearl now has two litters on the ground – the first by the all-conquering Fernando Bale have just turned 16 months of age while her second litter to dual Group 1 winning Irish Sire, One Time Only, are 6 months old. 
The Fernando Bale pups were the main drawcard for the GRNSW Puppy Auction held at Richmond last year, and Lord  ‘bought back’ every one of them after bidding reached in excess of $50,000 – the Clover Park Racing Group proprietor says he’s sure he’ll be vindicated in the coming months when they hit the track.
“I’ve been in this game for a long while now and I’ve been lucky to have had plenty of success, so it does take a little bit to get me excited, but when I tell you these pups are on track to be some of the best we’ve ever had, I don’t say that lightly,” he said.

Breaking from his normal tradition where he would send his pups away to be broken-in, this time, Lord broke the entire litter in himself at his property in Gunning, southern NSW, and says they just did everything right from day one. 

“While there’s probably only a couple of lengths between all five of them, there are a couple who stand out, in particular a dog that goes by the kennel name of ‘Prince’ and a bitch named ‘Lady’. 

“At 13 months of age, ‘Prince’ broke 20 seconds at Goulburn over the 350m and then at 14 ½ months old, he went 19.60, just unheard of for young dogs at that age. 

“And then the last time we took ‘Lady’ to Goulburn, she broke the long-slip record from the 440m boxes going 13.35 – to put that into perspective, when we were setting Joey The Jet for the Zoom Top Maiden Classic he went 13.55 and 13.45 from the same mark and of course not only did he win the Zoom Top, but he also finished second in the Melbourne Cup, coincidentally behind Explicit,” Lord said. 

But for those waiting anxiously for Lord to produce these future stars on the racetrack, they’ll have to wait a little longer.

“We’ve decided to ease up on them a touch now as they’ve literally been under the pump for a few months now with their education – at this stage the plan is to bring them back in next month with a preliminary target of around June or July to kick off their careers, all things being equal.” 

Along with his wife Jodie and daughter Hayley Gilbert, the Lord’s continue to ride the crest of a winning wave – they have invested millions into their purpose built Clover Park property and the results speak for themselves with multiple NSW Training titles in their CV’s, although Andy Lord says they are not resting on their past performances. 

“We now have a line-up of Brood Bitches that I believe are the equal to any in Australia – apart from Pearl, we have Bandit Jane (the first greyhound to ever break 34 sec’s at Dapto over 600m); Good Odds Emma (G1 Megastar winner); Coast Model (winner of 28 races including 16 at Wentworth Park); Coin Model (Richmond 520m TR Holder) and Panorama (G3 Murray Bridge Cup winner) and they all have at least one, if not two litters on the ground. 

“It’s a massive operation for us, every day of the year, with more than 120 dogs on the property and we are now whelping, rearing and breaking-in every litter we have, but that’s why we are in the game, we love what we do and get enormous satisfaction whether we’re winning races at Goulburn, Dapto or Wentworth Park.” 

Andy Lord is the consummate professional – no stone is ever left unturned in preparing his charges or bringing pups through the ‘Lord system’, and greyhound racing fans now have the opportunity to stay up to date with everything that’s happening at Clover Park with the launch of their new website and social media channels (Facebook and Instagram). 

“Hayley has been on to me for ages that we need to get with the times – Tik Tok, Facebook and Instagram is the way of the world now, and you either accept it, or get left behind, so we’re embracing it. 

“The Clover Park Racing Group website has just been launched and every week through our Facebook channel, we’ll provide our followers with a preview of the greyhounds we have engaged to race, and hopefully tip them a few winners along the way,” he said. 

And while the only things in life we can be certain of are death and taxes, the next best bet is to listen when Andy Lord talks. 

“The next 12 to 24 months could be the biggest and most successful we’ve ever experienced.”

latest news

Pearl meets her perfect match