Irish Performance of the week - 10 December 2025
Eight of the 17 tracks in Ireland had a 24 whelp pick up the performance of the week as the pups turned on the class over the last seven days.
Bombay looks a little bit special at Clonmel
The sensational start to the career of Bombay Special continued at Clonmel last week, making it five wins in six starts. Interestingly the only dog to beat her so far has only won that single start! Only four dogs have clocked quicker times at Clonmel in 2025, looking like a bitch from the top drawer. Her litter sister Lets Go Girl has a couple of open race wins at Central Park
At Shelbourne it was the start of the Christmas Oaks where Ballydoyle Tina caught the eye with an impressive opening round win. She wasn't the quickest into stride but once she had turned a close second, the race was all over bar the shouting. She had chased home Irish Derby finalist Magical Mag at the Winter Festival last month on just her fifth career start.
Bomber Nina casually went just 27 spots off the Tralee sprint clock on her race debut on Saturday night to land another blow this week for the fairer sex. Just Earn Perks and Road Exile in the same contest in early March have gone quicker than her so far this year. A half sister to the likes of Ballymac Briar, Fire And Ice as well as Longacres Lad, it's no surprise that she has speed to burn.
Another impressive winner on debut was Gaston at Waterford. He flexed his muscles for a 28.60 run which puts him inside the top 30 of the year but a lot of the dogs ahead of him are on the board on more than one occasion. His dam is a litter sister to 2023 Irish Derby runner-up Bockos Crystal and a half-sister to Sentimental Lad who Gaston is very closely bred to.
The step down to A1 company at Cork saw Bartlemy Mainoo take off on Saturday night and produce arguably a career-best performance. He came home five lengths clear, so it will be interesting to see if that can help his confidence. He had been brought over to England to run in the heats of the BetGoodwin and JR Racing Maiden Derby at Towcester in the spring but his bad fortune saw him draw a heat where the first two home both made the final.
