Irish Performance of the Week - 22 July 2026
Taking a look around all of the Irish tracks to find the top performance of the week from each venue.
Luka leads the way in opening round of the Irish Sprint Cup
The Bar 1 Betting Irish Sprint Cup is always one of the top events of the year at Dundalk and it was Magical Luka who was the quickest of the first round winners last Saturday night. Given some of the times that he has put up on both sides of the Irish Sea, it's hard to believe that this was just start number 18 in his career. We have not seen much of him on the track, and those who have seen him on the track have missed him when they have blinked!
Over at Tralee the award went to Luka's half-brother Magical Marty who produced the fastest 500y time of the year so far. He had set a FOY back in June but that had been lowered twice since before he gained his own crown back. Last year it was Luka who was setting the quickest times over track and trip, the family keeping that tradition going in 2026.
Kapok Coley went close to breaking the 28-dead barrier at Shelbourne over the weekend. A finalist in the Kilkenny Track Champion Open Unraced at the end of April to kick start his career, he has only had nine starts in his life, so there should be more to come from him as he continues to mature.
The final of the Shelley Fennelly Memorial Open Bitch Stake at Cork saw an impressive success from Droopys Croia. She now has four times in the top 26 of the year over the 525y distance. A half-sister to the likes of Broadstrand Syd, Slick Sentinel et al, she has plenty of the family talent.
Galway is a track that suits Avenue Queen very well, making it a perfect 4/4 at the track with a win on Friday night. Her 28.84 took her into the top 10 times of the year at the venue, and although her other littermates at the classier end are short four-bend dogs, she has shown that 525y holds no fear for her around a track like Galway.
