IT was a typical opening night in the 2010 Ladbrokes.com Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park last night with a few major upsets and some very fast racing, writes Michael Fortune.

IT is every greyhound person’s dream to have a runner in the Ladbrokes.com Irish Derby but Galway owner P.J. Fahy is not the typical owner.

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.

THE Hegarty Bookmakers 600 dominates the home racing scene this week but there will also be huge interest in the progress of our numerically very strong team which will be on duty in the second round of the Williamhill.com English Derby at Wimbledon.

NEWS from across the water yesterday is that one of the biggest entries for many years will go into the draw on Sunday for the first round of the Williamhill.com English Derby and among them there will be one of the biggest ever Irish raiding teams.