*Written by Gerard Guthrie, Greyhound Recorder.

Young Victorian superstar Wrongly Accused confirmed himself as Australia’s number one sprinter with an electrifying victory in the Group 1 Sportsbet Topgun (525m) at The Meadows on Saturday night.

Featuring a hand-picked field, comprising the best of the best, the Topgun, carrying a $150,000 winner’s purse, is regarded as the greyhound code’s Cox Plate and was the highlight event on the opening night of the Dream Chasers Festival.

Trained by Justin Nolan at Devon Meadows, Wrongly Accused, who started his career named Organised Crime, unleashed a paralysing finishing burst to defeat Canya Talk Now and Off The Chart in a Victorian trifecta.

An August ’24 son of super sire Bernardo and Easy Choice, Wrongly Accused came into the Topgun having been beaten as an odds-on favourite in his two previous starts.

He ran fourth in the G1 Adelaide Cup at $1.60 and then, more concerningly for connections, he ran sixth at $1.20 in a midweek Free For All at The Meadows, the only two unplaced runs of his career.

“Just relieved,” said Justin Nolan post-race.

Wrongly Accused wins the Group 1 Topgun from box 8 in 29.63 seconds. 

“After his run a couple of weeks ago at The Meadows, he went pretty ordinary, and just didn’t have things his own way.

“But tonight he got out nice and had the sit on them and he did enough to win. Good on him!”

Drawn in box eight in the Topgun, Wrongly Accused started $4.50 favourite, shading NSW’s record-breaking machine Jungle Johnny (box 2) at $4.60.

Off The Chart ($9.70), which like Wrongly Accused is owned and bred by Victorian father and son duo Michael and Darren Puleio, crossed to the front from box seven, leading Canya Talk Now ($5.50) and Wrongly Accused rounding the first turn.

Wrongly Accused burst between Off The Chart and Canya Talk Now to score by one-and-a-quarter lengths in 29.63, his 12th win from 19 starts.

It was the second G1 victory of his relatively brief career, in a performance reminiscent of his victory in the G1 National Sprint Championship at Sandown Park in August.

“I thought I was in trouble,” admitted Justin Nolan.

“But he just kept coming and coming. He just chases. I couldn’t be any prouder of him.

“When everyone wrote him off from the pink it was good, but it suited him.”