Irish Performance of the Week - 24 March 2026
The opening round of the Con & Annie Kirby Memorial was at Limerick at the weekend, with the second round of the Easter Cup taking the headlines at Shelbourne.
Monarch bounces to Kirby best
David Fradgely sent Bouncing Monarch over to Ireland for the Con & Annie Kirby Memorial and landed himself the quickest winner of the opening round. In the care of Michael O'Donovan for the competition, he was the only winner who broke the 28-second barrier at Limerick. Seven of the other 12 heats were won in times of 28.10 or quicker, so it looks the usual deep competition to enjoy.
The second round of the Easter Cup saw Lennies Tank post the fastest time. He is a dog who has always had a huge reputation and has produced some smart runs to go along with it. Now the outright market leader for the competition, he will take on the second favourite Droopys Kathleen in the opening semi-final on Saturday night.
Bombay Special took the final of the Cork Oaks by half a length over Magical On Fire. Graham Holland's winner produced the best early pace of the bunch with the runner-up slowest on the sectional. That allowed Bombay Special to escape, and those spots she took early were needed late on with the second charging home.
February saw a rather underwhelming racing debut from Uimhir A Tri over four bends at Thurles. Fast forward six weeks and a drop back to sprinting at Newbridge and there was a new fastest of the year set for the 325y trip by a massive 27 spots. She is one to note next time to see how she copes with a rise in class.
The winning streak at Kilkenny for Sober Barry stretched to five last week, producing by far his best time in the process. It is the fastest of 2026 so far and would have made the top 10 in 2025. A January 24 whelp with just 12 career starts under his belt, there is a strong chance that he still has better yet to come.
