One hundred and forty-four greyhounds will contest the opening round of the Boylesports Irish Greyhound Derby, following the draw, which took place yesterday morning at Shelbourne Park.

The final of the Curraheen S1/S2 featured on a good card at Curraheen on Saturday night, and Glanmire Trooper, trained by Pat Kiely for John Organ, Dungarvan, prevailed in a very tight finish.

The 2015 Irish Greyhound Derby was launched this week, with the confirmation Boylesports will continue its sponsorship of the country’s premier classic, which is in the second year of a three-year deal.

Ballydoyle Honey’s domination of the bitches’ division continued on Saturday night as Alison Coxon’s remarkable racer broke 28.00 for the second time, when running away with her quarter-final heat of the Sporting Press Irish Oaks at Shelbourne Park.

The quarter-finals of the Laurels take centre stage tonight at Curraheen and Ballymac Alamo can make the most of a favourable draw in the first heat.

Farloe Blitz continued his serene progress through the Greyhound & Pet World and Odds On Dog Food Supersprint with a wide-margin victory in the first semi-final on Saturday night at Curraheen Park.

The lightly raced Downdaniel Kite can put punters on the front foot in tonight’s battle with the bookmakers at Curraheen Park.

The semi-finals of the Connolly’s Red Mills Irish Laurels attracted a large crowd to Curraheen Park on Saturday night, and all who attended were treated to superb heats, in each of which the three qualifiers were covered by less than a length.

Darragh Morrissey, Paul Hennessy and Graham Holland all recorded doubles in the first round of the 2014 Connolly’s Red Mills Irish Laurels on Saturday night at Curraheen Park, but it was the John Kavanagh-trained Vimmerby who set the bar highest with his terrific display in the second of the 13 heats.

The Pat Buckley-trained Mind The Net set the standard in Saturday’s third-round heats of the English Greyhound Derby, when coming from behind the pace to take the third heat.

Boylesports Hero will be the favourite to land next weekend’s final of the €80,000-to-the-winner Con and Annie Kirby Memorial at Limerick following a scintillating display of raw pace in Saturday night’s semi-final.

Jaytee Hellcat put his name in the mix for outright honours in the Kerry AgriBusiness St Leger when proving far too strong for his rivals in Saturday’s second quarter-final at Limerick.

The Kerry AgriBusiness St Leger has reached the quarter-final stage and tonight’s four heats feature the clash between two strong fancies for outright glory, Roxholme Bully and Skywalker Farloe, in the third heat.

Paradise Madison’s ability remains fully intact and the Derby is now firmly in his sights.

Kilcohan Park may have to take a backseat for a few days after Thomas The Tank, owned by Waterford racing manager Kathleen Lennon and trained by her father, Denis, was crowned the Boylesports Coursing Derby champion of 2013.

With only four heats, the entry for tonight's first round of the Tyrur McGuigan Open 575 is a touch disappointing but the richly talented Tibetan Skies can get his challenge off to a winning start by taking the second heat.

The question marks over Sparta Maestro’s participation in tonight’s second semi-final of the Kerry Agribusiness St Leger at Limerick leave a lingering shadow over the race as a punting medium but, more importantly, over the stake as a whole.

It was amazing to hear the president of the GAA Liam O’Neill state that all the seats in Croke Park give the spectator a good view of the pitch and the games played there.

When Owen McKenna’s Confident Rankin went around Curraheen in 28.25 in a trial last Friday he sent out a message that the Red Mills Irish Laurels is not going to be easily won.

There is something very magical about the Derby double. On Saturday night at Shelbourne Park the 81st Irish Derby final will be run and in that time only one greyhound has managed to win it more than once.

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

A shock defeat for Droopys Jet and the elimination of that great old veteran Tyrur Big Mike were the major talking points last night at Shelbourne when the first eight heats in the second round of the Ladbrokes Irish Derby were run.

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.

It was a sensational session at Shelbourne last night as the second lot of heats in the Ladbrokes Irish Derby were run.

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.

The Ladbrokes Irish Derby moves a step further tonight with eight more first round heats at Shelbourne and this session will see the majority of the very strong Dolores Ruth team swinging into action.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The introduction of the new Mini Open grade from next Tuesday has been widely welcomed by owners and trainers and should fill the huge void which had existed in the current grading system.

The cream of Ireland’s female talent served up some terrific performances at Shelbourne Park on Saturday night as the opening round of the Sporting Press Irish Oaks came to a conclusion.

The draw for the first round of the Sporting Press Irish Oaks has thrown up a few intriguing clashes.

There could hardly have been a better line-up for the Betfair 600 final, which will be featured on RTE’s first live telecast of the year on Saturday night from Shelbourne.

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.

Dolores Ruth is the trainer to follow in this evening’s quarter-finals of the Betfair 600 at Shelbourne Park as the Rathangan handler sends out three of the four heats favourites.

Dolores Ruth is the trainer to follow in this evening’s quarter-finals of the Betfair 600 at Shelbourne Park as the Rathangan handler sends out three of the four heats favourites.

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.

No greyhound competition in this country can boast a record quite like the Easter Cup. It was the first event ever run at Shelbourne Park and it was set up to commemorate the Easter Rising in Dublin.