Canya Mayhem crushes Melbourne Cup field
Peter Fenemor • December 1st, 2025 2:41 PM • 3 min read
Slick early pace was the key for Canya Mayhem winning Saturday’s rich Sportsbet Melbourne Cup when he blasted away from the Sandown Park 515m two-trap.
The Jessica Hopkins trained greyhound secured the race lead when cutting out his first sectional in 5.05 seconds and it was a lead that he was never going to relinquish when sprinting to his swift 29.15 win.
Gallant in running second 1.50 lengths behind was the Kayla Cottrell prepared Dashing Slay who held a half-length margin over the third placed Valenzuela for local conditioner Jeff Britton.
For 35-year-old Hopkins the victory was a dream come true, having been born into the racing industry.
She told oncourse presenter Jason Adams postrace, that one of her earliest memories in racing was, “Olli (Damien Oliver) saying ‘I’ve just won the Cup (Doriemus 1995)’. Now I’ve just won the Cup. It’s surreal, to win a Melbourne Cup is what everyone dreams of.”
Australian greyhound media personality Brennan Ryan commented, “It was a really good night of high-class racing action, with a huge crowd on course.
“Canya Mayhem was very impressive, that’s how you win a Melbourne Cup by displaying pace like that.
“It was a quickly run race, with the first three greyhounds sprinting away from a classy field.
“For Jessica Hopkins it was a deserved training win with her being a third-generation trainer in the industry.”
The other Group One feature contested on Saturday was the Sportsbet Bold Trease for the stayers over the 715m distance.
The event was all over as a contest as soon as the traps lifted with the favourite runner Without A Trace exploding away from the eight trap.
The aptly named stayer was in freewheeling mode throughout, cruising to her effortless power packed 41.49 victory for trainer Peter Presutto, leading home the Jason Thompson trained Ayden’s Warrior by just under three lengths.
“Without A Trace confirmed that she is the best stayer racing in Australia. To lead a Group 1 field all-the-way like she did over 715m at Sandown is a tremendous effort,” advised Ryan.
He also commented about an emotional presentation that was made to Jan Wheeler, the wife of the late, great Paul Wheeler who bred and raced the recently deceased champion greyhound Fernando Bale.
“The Sandown club presented Jan with a plague with a paw print from Fernando Bale imprinted on it, along with a beautifully presented memorial slash. It was a wonderful tribute to a champion greyhound, made to Jan who is hugely respected within the industry Australia wide.”
Fernando Bale sired the two Melbourne Cup minor placegetters with winner Canya Mayhem being a member of the August 2023 Bernardo – Bali Sunset August whelped litter.
The red-hot Melbourne chasing action now reverts to The Meadows track where the world’s richest greyhound race, the A$1.65 million The Phoenix will be decided over 525m on 13 December.
The Phoenix is a slot race where the majority of the Melbourne Cup field can be expected to be sighted matching their paws against each other again.
