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

Many of the top fancies go into action in the Ladbrokes Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park tonight.

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.

Fresh from his brilliant victory in the Champion Stakes just 11 days ago, Droopys Jet is set to provide a high-profile start to the Ladbrokes Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park tonight.

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.

Invariably the commencement of the Townviewfoods.com Champion Stakes signals the arrival of “Derby fever” at Shelbourne Park and there will be an extra lift to the racegoers’ strides at headquarters this evening where a high-class programme includes the three semis of both the Champion and the associated Plate.

There should be a huge crowd in Dundalk this evening where Milldean Panther returns to action in the Boylesports International .

There have been many great nights at Tralee over the years but Saturday’s Betdaq Night of Champions will surely be one of the greatest ever.

A mixture of Irish classic and major winners, brilliant local talent and two high-class English raiders make the Betdaq Race of Champions a huge attraction and the semi-finals should attract a smashing crowd to Tralee on Friday night.

In a week when the when the finals of the Sporting Press Irish Oaks, the Bettor.com Northern Irish Derby and the Track Supporters Munster Derby will be run, another major event will be the semi-finals of the Betdaq Race of Champions at Tralee on Friday.

Two major competitions reach the semi-final stage on the tracks this week with the semi-finals of both the Sporting Press Irish Oaks at Shelbourne and the Bettor.com Northern Irish Derby at Drumbo Park to be run on Saturday.

Dolores Ruth’s domination of the Williamhill.com English Derby continued at Wimbledon last night as her three runners all effortlessly qualified for Saturday’s semi-finals with both Razldazl Jayfkay and Razldazl Rioga scoring hugely impressive victories.

Razldazl Jayfkay created history in the second round of the williamhill.com English Derby at Wimbledon when posting new figures for the 480 metre trip.

Rarely have we approached a season with greater expectations than this year.

While the weather caused the postponement of a few meetingslast night, it seems certain that Shelbourne Park will be fit to race this evening where the feature is the final of the Joe Dunne Memorial Puppy 525.

Greyhound folk will have their stamina tested to the limit in the coming week with some top class racing at tracks all over the country while the National Coursing Meeting will commence at Clonmel on Monday morning.

THE Tyrur McGuigan @ Stud Open 575 has provided some wonderful racing to kick of the New Year at Shelbourne Park over the past three weeks and next week’s final looks hugely intriguing following Saturday’s semi finals.