Two years ago, Jess Hopkins celebrated her first Group 1 victory on Topgun night. Tomorrow night, she returns to The Meadows with one of the biggest names in greyhound racing.
Melbourne Cup champion Canya Mayhem will jump from box five in the Group 1 Topgun (525m), looking to add another major trophy to an already glittering resume.
For Hopkins, the Topgun is a race steeped in family history.
Her grandparents tasted success in the 1996 Topgun with Wylie Boy, before Hopkins claimed her own piece of history in 2024 when Canya All Class won the Group 1 Topgun Stayers (730m).
“The Topgun Stayers with Ralph (Canya All Class) was the biggest and best memory I’ve got in racing,” Hopkins said.
What followed has been a remarkable 24 months.
Hopkins went on to claim the sport’s biggest prize, the Melbourne Cup, with Canya Mayhem, who backed up that triumph with victory in Queensland’s Group 1 Gold Bullion.
“I’ve won one and a half of the races I want to win in my career so far,” Hopkins said.
Despite his glittering record, Canya Mayhem enters Saturday night’s invitational looking to bounce back from a forgettable Million Dollar Chase campaign where he missed the start completely and finished last.
“We might as well have stayed home Million Dollar Chase night, to be honest,” Hopkins said.
“We were out of the race early, which is never ideal after an 11-hour drive.”
