Paddy Derwin was a very happy man as he drove back to his Hartlepool kennel after racing at Sunderland on Friday. He had eight greyhounds in the kennel and five of them were winners – Franco Cool Blue (5-1), Artonar (6-1), Bond Bya Dominic (3-1), Deancroft Rumble (4-1) and Dinnington Lad (6-1) making up a 5,879-1 accumulator – while two of the others had finished second.

He said: “Nights like that don’t come round too often and you’ve got to grab them with both hands when they do and go away smiling. All the dogs are running at their peak at the moment and we are having a very good run with them.”