There will be agony and ecstasy in equal measures at Shelbourne Park this evening as the final 12 will be reduced to six in the Ladbrokes Irish Derby.

Not only did the clear favourite, Ballymac Vic, make his exit but Tyrur Sugar Ray went from being a dog of big potential to the one to beat following a breath-taking victory in a scarcely believable 29.29 in the Ladbrokes Irish Derby quarter-finals at Shelbourne Park on Saturday night.

Only 22 will take their place in this evening’s quarter-finals of the Ladbrokes.com Irish Derby following the withdrawal of Stay Thirsty early in the week and the sad news that Broadstrand Lad has run his last race.

The 23 remaining contenders will go to war in the four quarter-finals of the Ladbrokes Irish Derby at Shelburne on Saturday and the big task is in pin-pointing the six dogs likely to make it all the way to the final on September 8th.

There are two withdrawals from the third round of the Ladbrokes Irish Derby but it remains highly competitive.

Ante-post favourite Ballymac Vic will be the last of the big names to launch their Ladbrokes Derby challenge when he lines out in tonight’s final heat of the opening round at Shelbourne Park.

The recent Champion Stakes winner Droopys Jet really brought the first session of the Ladbrokes Irish Derby to life at Shelbourne Park last night when he was a hugely impressive winner of heat 5 in 29.52.

Over half the required 144 entries for the Ladbrokes Irish Derby have been received with another four days to go before Saturday’s closing stage.

Milldean Panther will miss the upcoming Ladbrokes.com Derby and will not race again this year. That was the disappointing news that broke yesterday morning following the confirmation that he has an injured Achilles.

Razldazl Rioga would be a popular winner of the Betdaq Race of Champions at Tralee and the Laurels winner is drawn for a big run in tonight’s final.

Milldean Tally produced another brilliant performance when winning the 2012 Sporting Press Irish Oaks at Shelbourne Park on Saturday night.

Cabra Millie faces a test of her Sporting Press Irish Oaks credentials in tonight’s second semi-final, but the Graham Holland-trained bitch should come through with flying colours.

The contest of the night at Shelbourne this evening is the opening semi-final of the Betfair 600. Likely favourite Tibetan Skies will need to be sharper at traps than he has been in his last two outings.

The week started on a very encouraging note with news of Red Mills’ sponsorship of the Irish Laurels at Curraheen Park for a three year period. It is a great boost for the sport in the south and will allow all involved to plan well into the future.

The dreadful weather conditions yesterday made things difficult for some trainers heading for the English Derby at Wimbledon which starts tomorrow night with 11 Irish runners in action in the first session.

Betting exchange company Betfair plan to make a splash with their initial foray into major greyhound racing sponsorship this weekend.

Broadstrand Lad and Tyrur Big Mike may have turned four years of age last weekend, but the two brilliant performers retain every ounce of their ability if their latest displays in the Easter Cup are an accurate indication.

Owen McKenna, who spent some years training greyhound across the water, could be a regular visitor to the British tracks over the coming months.

It has been quite a week for the greyhound industry this far with the three splendid days of sport at Clonmel and then the highly encouraging figures released by the Irish Greyhound Board.

THE O’Donnell Kennels in Killenaule are back in the headlines with young puppy Skip Soda winning a lot of admirers in the Festival Open Unraced Stake at Clonmel.