Irish Performance of the Week - 17 March 2026
Shelbourne Park saw the start of the Easter Cup at the weekend, we take a look at Droopys Kathleen who went quickest in the opening round and all the top performers from across the country.
Kathleen stars in the first round of the Easter Cup
Droopys Kathleen got back to winning ways in the opening round of the Easter Cup at Shelbourne over the weekend. It is now more than 17 months since she made her debut but she has only made it to the track in race action on nine occasions. Hopefully connections can get some sort of a clear run with her as she is the type to light up any meeting where she is in action.
It was a great weekend for the family as Droopys Map picked up the €9,000 Kilcolgan Castle Connacht Derby final at Galway. He is from a repeat mating of Droopys Sydney and Droopys Dancer. It looked a tough draw out in five on paper but he got to the front early on and came clear by there and a half lengths. He will head to Limerick next up for the Kirby.
At Limerick it was Hackney Dancer who produced the run of the week. He tore an A1 contest apart on just the fourth run of his career, looking like one who needs to be followed in better company, He will get a chance to put that to the test next week as he is in Heat five of the Kirby.
Another who is going to be heading to Limerick next week is Cork winner Ballycowen Frank. He made the final of the National Puppy at Shelbourne in November, although he got suspended there after causing interference on the run-in. He has bundles of natural speed as he showed last week, hopefully he can hold things together.
There was a smart run from Magical Jet at Tralee as he landed the final of the RCETS Traceability App Stakes. He made his debut in the opening round of the competition, picking up his first win in the semis last week. He is a litter brother to Blackstone Lexus who was third in the final of the Juvenile Classic at this track the week before.
