Sportsbet Topgun: Armchair Guide

[Wandering Eyes]

The $233,250 Group 1 Sportsbet Topgun (525m) headlines Saturday’s opening night of the inaugural Sportsbet Dream Chasers Festival, the world’s richest greyhound racing carnival, at The Meadows.

The Dream Chasers will see $4.1 million in prizemoney on offer over five sensational Saturdays, also featuring the Group 3 Shootout (November 12), Group 1 Sportsbet Melbourne Cup (November 26), and culminating with the second running of The Phoenix (December 17).

The Festival begins with a bang, with the running of three Group 1 events over all three distances: the Sportsbet Topgun (525m), $121,500 Sportsbet Topgun Stayers (730m) and $121,500 Hume Cup (600m).

KEY TIMES

6:43pm First race
8:06pm $121,500 Group 1 Hume Cup Final (Race 5; first leg of Quaddie)
8:29pm $121,500 Group 1 Sportsbet Topgun Stayers (Race 6)
9:07pm $233,250 Group 1 Sportsbet Topgun (Race 8)
10:29pm Last race (Race 12)

The Topgun is considered greyhound racing’s version of the Cox Plate, with a hand-picked field, comprising the best of the best, vying for the $150,000 winner’s purse.

Since an unforgettable introduction in 1993, when Golden Currency and Worth Backing dead-heated, Victorian-trained sprinters have dominated the Topgun, winning 21 of 29 and the last seven in succession.

That home state stranglehold could well continue through Australia’s most talked about greyhound Wow She’s Fast (Box 5), winner of 15 of her 21 starts and unbeaten in three appearances at The Meadows, including the Group 1 Maturity Classic and inaugural The Phoenix.

The aptly-named Wow She’s Fast is trained by Kel and Jackie Greenough, who are striving for their second Topgun victory, having won the event in 2009 with Cindeen Shelby.

Wow She’s Fast has been usurped for favouritism at $2.90 by New South Wales visitor French Martini (Box 1), trained by former house painter and two-time Million Dollar Chase winner Peter Lagogiane, which heads Sportsbet’s market at $2.80.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
– For the first time, Racing.com will cover every race, every story, and every moment from 6.30pm with Matt White, George Farrugia, Molly Haines, and Corey Smith
– Watch the racing LIVE and FREE on the Watchdog App
– Behind-the-scenes insights on GRV Facebook, @WatchDogRacing Twitter and @greyhoundracingvic Instagram
– Regular updates with Trent Langskaill on RSN Racing and Sport (927 AM)

Interstate raiders are favourites for Saturday’s other two Group 1 events.

The New South Wales-based Super Estrella (Box 2) is a dominant $1.50 elect in the Topgun Stayers, while Queenslander Pocket Money (Box 8) is joint $3.60 Hume Cup favourite with local Dookie Devil (Box 6), after a near-record heat victory on Monday night.

The Topgun meeting, and the remaining four nights of the Dream Chasers Festival, will be showcased nationally on free-to-air television on Racing.com, as well as Foxtel’s channel 529, through a ground-breaking partnership between GRV and Victorian Thoroughbred Racing Pty Ltd.

POINTS OF INTEREST

HISTORY BOOKS
The Topgun was first held in 1993, at Sandown Park, with the inaugural running incredibly resulting in a dead-heat between Golden Currency and Worth Backing. The second Topgun was run at Olympic Park, after which the race alternated between Sandown and The Meadows on an annual basis, before moving permanently to The Meadows in 2007.

RACE OF CHAMPIONS
The Topgun honour roll is littered with champions, including Rapid Journey (1998), Bombastic Shiraz (2003), Whisky Assassin (2004), Cindeen Shelby (2009), El Grand Senor (2010), Fernando Bale (2015), Up Hill Jill (2017) and Aston Rupee (2021).

VICTORIAN DOMINATION
Victorian sprinters have dominated the Topgun Sprint since its inception, winning 21 of the 29 held, including the last seven in succession. New South Wales has produced four winners, Western Australia two and Queensland and Tasmania once apiece. South Australia is the only state yet to have a Topgun winner.

MILLIONAIRES ROW

Two Topgun runners, Wow She’s Fast ($1,176,370) and McInerney ($1,122,270), have banked more than $1 million in prizemoney, and the $150,000 winner’s purse would bring both within touching distance of Australia’s newly-crowned record stakes winner She’s A Pearl ($1,367,970), which passed Fanta Bale’s previous benchmark on Wednesday night.

Two trainers engaged in the Topgun have won the Million Dollar Chase, the world’s richest race; Brendan Pursell, who in September became the first Victorian trainer to win the MDC, courtesy of McInerney, while New South Wales trainer Peter Lagogiane has won the MDC twice.

GOLDEN GIRLS

While female greyhounds are numerically outnumbered in the Topgun Sprint, the only two members of the fairer sex, Wow She’s Fast and French Martini, dominate betting.

It’s a similar story in the Topgun Stayers, where female trio, Super Estrella, Mepunga Ruby, and Untapped sit atop Sportsbet’s market.

MULTIPLE WINS?
Kel Greenough, co-trainer of favourite Wow She’s Fast, with wife Jackie, is the only trainer to have won the Topgun previously, having been victorious with Cindeen Shelby in 2009.

Group 1 SPORTSBET TOPGUN (525m)
The Meadows Race 8, Saturday 9:07pm
Total prizemoney $223,250 (First prize $150,000)
1 FRENCH MARTINI (Peter Lagogiane, Llandilo NSW)
2 ZIPPY TESLA (Brad Keel, Anakie VIC)
3 McINERNEY (Brendan Pursell, Lara VIC)
4 VICE GRIP (Adam Smithson, Nambeelup WA)
5 WOW SHE’S FAST (Jackie Greenough, Pearcedale VIC)
6 ZIPPING KYRGIOS (John Finn, Cranebrook NSW)
7 ORCHESTRATE  SCRATCHED
8 GOOD ODDS CASH  SCRATCHED
Reserves
9 PHOTO MAN (Gavin Clifton, Tynong North VIC)
10 AMRON BOY (Brooke Ennis, Lara VIC)

Click HERE  for Sportsbet’s latest market on the Sportsbet Topgun

RECENT TOPGUN WINNERS

2012 David Bale (Graeme Bate, Lara VIC)
2013 Dyna Nalin (Paul Stuart, Nambeelup WA)
2014 Buckle Up Wes (Ted Medhurst, Mangalore TAS)
2015 Fernando Bale (Andrea Dailly, Anakie VIC)
2016 Dundee Osprey (Geoff Scott-Smith, Pakenham South VIC)
2017 Up Hill Jill (David Geall, Lara VIC)
2018 Poke The Bear (Seona Thompson, Pearcedale VIC)
2019 Get It Gizmo (Harry Manolitsis, Lysterfield South VIC)
2020 Shima Shine (Andrea Dailly, Anakie VIC)
2021 Aston Rupee (Glenn Rounds, Devon Meadows VIC)

Group 1 SPORTSBET TOPGUN STAYERS (730m)
The Meadows Race 6, Saturday 8:29pm
Total prizemoney $121,500 (First prize $75,000)
1 OH OH RANGE (Keith ‘Ned’ Snow, Cornubia QLD)
2 SUPER ESTRELLA (David Smith, Elderslie NSW)
3 TSAR BELL (Adam Smithson, Nambeelup WA)
4 MEPUNGA RUBY (Jeff Britton, Anakie VIC)
5 FANTASTIC RADLEY (Elizabeth Chegia, Sellicks Hill SA)
6 UNTAPPED (Dustin Drew, Dennington VIC)
7 FIRST PICKED (Tim Britton, Lara VIC)
8 DAYS OF THUNDER (Warren Nicholls, Churchable QLD)
Reserves
9 MORAINE SUZIE (Brendan Pursell, Lara VIC)
10 DRAKO BALE (Brad Keel, Anakie VIC)

Click HERE  for Sportsbet’s latest market on the Sportsbet Topgun Stayers

TOPGUN STAYERS WINNERS

2015 Sweet It Is (Braden Finn, Devon Meadows VIC)
2016 Burn One Down (Jason Thompson, Pearcedale VIC)
2017 Bogie Bekim (Ben Rawlings, Lewiston SA)
2018 Champagne Sally (Ray Burman, Park Ridge QLD)
2019 Blue Moon Rising (John Finn, Cranebrook NSW)
2020 Tornado Tears (Robert Britton, Lara VIC)
2021 Gypsy Wyong (Andrea Dailly, Anakie VIC)

Group 1 HUME CUP FINAL (600m)
The Meadows Race 5, Saturday 8:06pm
Total prizemoney $121,500 (First prize $75,000)
1 ON THE OFF (Tim Britton, Lara VIC)
2 WHEEL AND GO (Tim Britton, Lara VIC)
3 TRIUMPH (Jason Thompson, Pearcedale VIC)
4 JARICK BALE (Mark Delbridge, Balliang VIC)
5 ASTON VELVET (Michelle Mallia, Avalon VIC)
6 DOOKIE DEVIL (Glenn Dainton, Cosgrove VIC)
7 XINMIN BALE (Daniel Gibbons, Avalon VIC)
8 POCKET MONEY (Keith ‘Ned’ Snow, Cornubia QLD)
Reserves
9 AMRON DAN (Brooke Ennis, Lara VIC)
10 SPANISH MISS (Diane Ireland, Knowsley VIC)

Click HERE  for Sportsbet’s latest market on the Hume Cup Final

RECENT HUME CUP WINNERS

2012 Jethro (Kel Greenough, Pearcedale VIC)
2013 Alpe D’Huez (Kelly Bravo, Lovely Banks VIC)
2014 My Bro Fabio (Brooke Ennis, Lara VIC)
2015 Secret Spell (Kelly Bravo, Lovely Banks VIC)
2016 Fanta Bale (Robert Britton, Lara VIC)
2017 Rockoon (Keith Hellmuth, Pearcedale VIC)
2018 Black Impala (Glenn Dainton, Cosgrove VIC)
2019 True Detective (Jeff Britton, Anakie VIC)
2020 Last Hurrah (Brett Nye, Little River VIC)
2021 Knicks Bale (Samantha Grenfell, Anakie VIC)

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