Micheal O Muircheartaigh obviously has high hopes for his new four-legged friend. Upon retiring from his GAA commentary role last September, the Irish Greyhound Board announced that they would present him with a greyhound and the dog was handed over at a function in Shelbourne Park yesterday afternoon.

There’s no doubt about the big event on the Irish greyhound calendar this week, it just has to be Saturday’s Town View Foods Champion Stakes final at Shelbourne Park.

The best wine was certainly kept to last when the draw for the heats of the Town View Foods Champion Stakes was made at Shelbourne yesterday.

Irish greyhound racing will break new ground next Friday at Harold’s Cross when the Gain Feeds Corn Cuchulainn final will be broadcast live around the world via the RTE website.