Irish Millie claimed an eventful edition of the Sandown Cup on Friday night, holding off Canya Amy, while star stayer Valpolicella found trouble early but avoided late trouble to grab third.

It was Drill Sergeant who turned into the final straight in the lead, but trouble struck the leaders.

Irish Millie avoided the interference, while Canya Amy peeled to the outside and made a late run at Irish Millie, who held on for her first group 1 win for Bunyip trainer Stephen Whyte.

The daughter of My Redeemer was a 30-1 shot with bookmakers.

"I told the owners, 'we just need an ounce of luck' and we got the luck," Whyte said post-race.

"There's some that haven't. That's the way it goes, that's greyhound racing.

"Every start she's just got better and better. Honestly, Tony [Zammit] has been one of my best mates in greyhound racing and we both watched the race [last week] and said, 'there's not much between their runs', his dog and my dog.

"I gave it a good hope."

Whyte said the win was a career highlight.

"I was in disbelief, because there was so much going on in the end there," he said.

"Tonight's the [icing] on the cake."

Things didn't go well for odds-on favourite Valpolicella, however.

The Queensland champion jumped from box one, but was quickly crossed after jumping and found herself last after the first lap. She was able to grab third, however, after avoiding the race incident.

Fast Minardi was taken to a local veterinary clinic to be assessed, while Drill Sergeant and Ritza Piper avoided serious injury.