Irish Performance of the Week - 24 February 2026

The Juvenile Classic got underway at Tralee

It was the opening round of the T Nolan C.V.R.T. Centre Juvenile Classic at Tralee on Friday night. Blackstone Lexus was the quickest of those first round heats, producing the best time of the year so far over the 525y trip. That's an outstanding way to make a racing debut. It is worth mentioning Ballymac Ralf as well. He was the second quickest, clocking 28.35 and is part of a very promising litter.

Another one of that promising litter is Grouchos Gregor who picked up a win over 550y at Galway. It was his first run in almost two months and his best since making a winning debut at Shelbourne back in October when clocking 28.45 on his race debut. Clearly he goes well fresh, but hopefully he can back this up sooner rather than later. 

The Shelbourne winner for the second week on the bounce was Ballymac Setanta. The first of those was a sprinting contest, stepping back up to four bends for his most recent assignment. He is the favourite for the Star Sports and Orchestrate English Derby with a large number of bookmakers, starting his buildup to Towcester in fine style. 

We have had joint winners at Limerick for the last two weeks in the Limerick Oaks, but this week the bitches were surpassed by Glengar Blitz. His 28.39 was a comfortable career best on the same week that his brother Slingshot Major finished third in the final of the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby. Not bad considering they are the only two in the litter.  

Droopys Alice has thrown some exceptional greyhounds in her litters and in Droopys Croia, she has another decent sort from her 2024 litter. He has been generally progressive in his six career starts, winning three, including at SS0 and AA0 level, though he has some way to go to top his 2022 half-siblings Broadstrand Syd and Slick Sentinel.