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.

Shelbourne Park will be in danger of bursting at the seams this evening as the Ladbrokes Irish Derby draws to what should be a thrilling conclusion.

In Smoke Pixie’s absence Cabra Millie, College Maybe and Borna Gem head the market for the Sporting Press Irish Oaks and the trio have managed to avoid each other in tonight’s quarter-finals.

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.

Many of Ireland’s fastest and most powerful trackers will be put to the test when they line up for tonight’s opening round of the Betfair 600.

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.

The IGB yesterday released a statement in relation to the recent find of greyhound bodies in a Co Limerick quarry and revealed that they know the identity of the owners of some of the greyhounds.

Following his sale on Saturday last, Cabra Noel is likely to race as Tyrur Justin when he begins his quest for English Derby honours at Wimbledon.

The start of the SIS Gold Cup is only a week away and many potential challengers will flex their muscles in preparation for the event at Shelbourne Park this evening.

Having bypassed a planned trial spin at Shelbourne on Saturday night, leading Irish tracker Milldean Panther is likely to have his first trial of the year at headquarters this morning.

Broadstrand Lad may be approaching his fourth birthday, but the brilliant son of Hallucinate retains all his ability and he will be bidding for the biggest title of his career when he lines out in the final of the Tyrur McGuigan @ Stud Open 575.

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.

TYRUR Mozzletoff became the fastest bitch to ever cover 525yds at Shelbourne Park when racing to a brilliant success in the final of the Christmas Oaks on Thursday night.

DESPITE the gloomy economic climate, it has been a tremendous year for greyhound racing.

THE 2011 Pat Hennerty Sales Irish Laurels gets underway at Curraheen Park tonight and it’s fitting that reigning champ Tyrur Enda should set the ball rolling in the first heat.

WITH the Derby now history for another year, the focus down south will now swing to the Pat Hennerty Sales Irish Laurels which will kick off at Curraheen Park on Friday night of next week.

PATRONS should get to Shelbourne Park early on Saturday night.

THERE is less than three and a half minutes of action remaining in the Ladbrokes.com Derby and tonight’s quarter finals at Shelbourne Park will account for two of those minutes.

WITH no further withdrawals yesterday, there are 92 dogs standing for tonight’s opening second round session of the Ladbrokes.com Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park.

THE race for glory will commence tomorrow evening at Shelbourne Park with 150 greyhounds in pursuit of the €120,000 Ladbrokes.com Irish Derby.

OLLIE Bray can begin to dream of further Derby glory after the powerfully built Royal Patrol confirmed his standing as one of Ireland’s most exciting young trackers with a superb last grasp victory in the ECC Timber Open 550 at Shelbourne Park on Saturday night.

IRISH hopes of winning the williamhill.com English Derby hit a speed bump at Wimbledon on Tuesday night with the elimination of Razldazl Jayfkay, but we remain in a dominant position with Barefoot Bullet, Razldazl George and Melodys Royal all hold outstanding claims in this evening’s semi-finals.

There will be no exporting of greyhounds from Ireland to China, in the near future at least.

IT has been a mixed week for PJ Fahy and his son Conor but they can reap the benefit of their Wimbledon controversy in tonight’s opening round of the Hegarty Bookmakers Open 600 at Shelbourne Park.

IT HAS been over six months since Tyrur Big Mike raced, but the Derby and Champion Stakes runner-up is hot favourite to lift the Collage Causeway/Killahan Phanter Easter Cup, which starts at Shelbourne tonight.

BOTH Shelbourne Park and Limerick will play host to a number of Ireland’s finest this evening as the Tote Gold Cup and Roche’s Feeds Oaks commence at the respective venues.

ON a relatively quiet weekend for greyhound racing, the focus falls on at Shelbourne Park this evening as many leading trackers flex their muscles in preparation for a crack at the upcoming Tote Gold Cup.

HOPEFULLY we can cease writing about the weather and concentrate on the racing side of things and this week sees the commencement of the Tyrur McGuigan Open 575 at Shelbourne and the Vetsearch Kennedy Cup at Limerick.

WATERFORD grabs the spotlight this week with the final of the Connolly’s Red Mills Masters topping the programme on Saturday and it promises to be a highly interesting contest.

LAST weekend’s Hennerty Sales Laurels winner Tyrur Enda will be returning to Munster for his final outings of the season after owner PJ Fahy decided to run the champion in the Red Mills Masters, which commences at Kilcohan Park on Saturday week.

THIS week is one of the big occasions in Irish greyhound sport with the final of the Pat Hennerty Sales Irish Laurels at Curraheen Park on Saturday. There will be a splendid all-sponsored supporting card.

THE well-fancied Tyrur Bucko will not run in Saturday’s second semi-final of the Pat Hennerty Sales Irish Laurels at Curraheen Park due to a serious injury.

It is getting down to the serious end of affairs in the Pat Hennerty Sales Irish Laurels at Curraheen Park and the talk of the greyhound world this week is that intriguing fourth quarter final to be run on Saturday night.

IT hardly seems like 363 days since that amazing night when College Causeway produced one of the greatest performances ever seen on a greyhound track, but here we are within two days of the 2010 Ladbrokes.com Irish Derby final and anticipation levels are extremely high.

FOLLOWING the luxury of four qualifying from all first round heats, the pressure will begin in the Ladbrokes.com Irish Derby this evening at Shelbourne when it will be just three to survive to the third round.

The Williamhill.com English Derby will reach the semi-final stage next Saturday when the third round is run at Wimbledon and hopes of an Irish victory in the classic are sky high following another very successful weekend for the raiding party.

This year’s Vetsearch Irish Grand National has provided a marvellous fillip for hurdle racing in this country and has proved yet again that hurdling could become popular here if given the proper promotion by the authorities.

THE Kevin Commins owned and trained Ferdia Bound was fastest in the semi-finals of the IGB National 750 at Shelbourne on Saturday.

SWORDS PRINCE will start favourite to win the Tote Gold Cup next weekend after producing yet another brilliant display in posting the fastest semi-final time at Shelbourne Park on Saturday evening.

LIMERICK hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for favourites in the Kerry Agri Business Irish St Leger and Saturday night proved another tough night for punters.

The Galway County Ladies Football Board have lodged an objection to the result of Saturday's TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC semi-final between the Tribeswomen and Armagh.

ARMAGH recognise they face a huge challenge in Hyde Park this afternoon if they are to qualify for the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Championship final against Cork on October 1.