Irish Performance of the Week - 20 January 2026

Alf takes Clonmel by storm

The second round of the Rural Kennels Open Unraced Stake did not disappoint at Clonmel last Thursday night. The opening round had seen Newinn Spot lead the way and he improved five spots on his opening round winning time but it was not enough to prevent Jacktavern Alf from taking his crown. The son of Pestana had been a smart winner last week himself but took a bigger step forward in round two. 

At Shelbourne it was Maireads Diamond who narrowly picks up POW in what was a close call. He ran in the Irish Derby first round on just the fourth start of his career last year, making the third round where he finished fourth. There are only eight races on his card even now so connections have a lightly-raced one for his age to go to war with in 2026. 

There was a good step forward from Noon Ballard at Cork. She has been generally progressive in her limited career so far but her performance last week was a sizeable step up on what she had done to that point. Just a July 24 whelp, she is a three-quarter sister to the ill-fated Slingshot Sam, with her dam a litter sister to Irish Oaks winner/Irish Derby finalist Killmacdonagh.

Zenith Wizard is another unexposed type on the list this week, making just the fifth start of his career when winning at Lifford. It was his second win in three runs in A2 grade at the track, already stopping the clock in a sub 29-second time back in December. From a repeat mating to one which produced Droopys Clue, Droopys Flotilla et al the first time around, his future looks bright.

The Daleroad prefix has seen plenty of success at Tralee in the last few years and in Daleroad Best they notched another POW winner. He has won three starts on the bounce now, finding plenty of consistency on the clock in the process. He stays the 525y trip well, and has an excellent knack of timing his challenge perfectly.