Irish Performance of the Week - 28 April 2026
The semi-finals of the Shelbourne 600 were the feature of last week's Irish racing action where Lemon Orla produced the quickest of the winning times.
Shelbourne 600 final is set with Lemon Orla the quickest
The final of the Shelbourne 600 is next Saturday night, a competition where Lemon Orla set the fastest of the times in the semis, beating Callaway Knegare in her the process. The Easter Cup winner pinged out to clear her main rival into the opening bend and was 16 spots quicker than Grouchos Gregor who won the other semi-final.
The Select Stakes semis were at Waterford where Beanos Yank produced the quickest run. Fifth in the final of the Con and Annie Kirby Memorial the week before at Limerick, he ended 2025 with a third-place finish in the National Puppy Stake. In this form, he must be a lively outsider for the Boylesports Irish Derby for which he is a 40/1 shot with the sponsors.
It has been an impressive start to the career of Carrick Becks who landed the final of the Champion Open Unraced at Kilkenny. He has improved with each of his four runs at the track, producing the top time of 2026 so far with his success. Only five dogs went quicker in the whole of 2025, his time 27 spots off the track record.
At Clonmel, there was a decent win from Knocknagoguestar. She was rattling up a hat-trick of victories to stay unbeaten at the track, now the winner of four of her first seven starts. That was the semis of the Guys & Dolls, heading into the final this week in top shape.
Court Kate has not seen much action for a veteran but produced the best run at Limerick last weekend.With the Kirby now over, the times were back a fair way on what we became used to with the stars in action but it was a career-best for the January 2022 whelp.
