*Written by Gerard Guthrie, Greyhound Recorder.

NSW’s two Group 1 Topgun (525m) invitees Pound Keeping and Jungle Johnny were the big winners when the box draw for the invitational sprint, dubbed the Cox Plate of greyhound racing, was conducted at The Meadows on Monday night.

Pound Keeping, trained by Minnie Finn, the youngest sprinter in the Topgun lineup, drew the coveted rails alley, while Mark Gatt’s record-breaking powerhouse Jungle Johnny drew box two.

The pre-draw favourite, brilliant young Victorian Wrongly Accused, prepared by Justin Nolan, was allocated box eight.

Pound Keeping, runner-up in the Million Dollar Chase at her most recent start, ran fourth in a heat of the G1 Maturity Classic in July at her only race start at The Meadows, but the daughter of 2021 Topgun hero Aston Rupee and Tania Keeping has won four of her five career starts in the red vest.

Jungle Johnny, who started favourite in the MDC final and ran seventh, will be lining up in the Topgun for the second time, having run fourth to Slick Splits in 2025 after gaining a start as second reserve.

His sire, Jungle Deuce, contested the 2021 Topgun, running sixth.

The box draw for the G1 Topgun Stayers (730m) saw the two pre-draw favourites in NSW’s Magpie Hector and WA’s Miss Envy draw boxes three and six, respectively.

Magpie Hector, trained by Jack Smith at Forbes, is already a two-time G1 winner over The Meadows 730m course in 2026, with the son of Feral Franky and Foxy Bourbski, a litter brother to last year’s Topgun sprint winner Slick Splits, annexing both the Zoom Top and Fanta Bale during the Australian Cup Carnival.

2025 Topgun Stayers winner Without A Trace drew box eight, with Queenslander Beautiful Child to exit box one.

The third G1 event being held on Saturday night is the middle distance Hume Cup (600m), with Anthony Azzopardi’s fastest heat winner House Of Sins drawing box eight.

Brooke Ennis’ three finalists, Blue Storm, Cobble Hill and Hurricane, drew alongside each other in boxes four, five and six, respectively.