Irish Performance of the Week - 4 August 2026
It was the final week of action in Ireland last week before the start of the 2026 BOYLE Sports Irish Greyhound Derby with a sparkling performance over Shelbourne's 550y trip.
Bockos Gold lays down Derby marker
The final round of racing ahead of the start of the 2026 BOYLE Sports Irish Greyhound Derby saw Bockos Gold stop the clock in a very slick 29.07 over the 550y at the weekend. Subsequently, he had been drawn in the 'heat of death' in the opening round, with his Friday night encounter an exceptional affair where connections of all six would have hoped for a long run. This was an outstanding effort though, and a repeat would hopefully see him though.
In the quarter-final stage of the Bar 1 Irish Sprint Cup, Bomber Nina was the quickest of the four winners. Until the start of this competition she had saved the best of her form for Tralee but has been able to pick up some smart times here, improving with each round so far. Things will get tougher but she clearly has the speed to compete.
The first round (semi-finals) of the Irish Cambridgeshire saw Lennies Desire bounce back from his disappointment in the Coral Regency when returned to his home soil. He is a hugely classy type when he is at the top of his game, and he quickly took over with the quickest of the year over Limerick's 750y distance.
The final of the Galway Oaks saw Magical Be Nifty produce the best run that she has produced in her career so far to see off her kennelamate and 2025 Irish Derby finalist Magical Mag. She had taken a step forward with each of her runs through the competition and should still have better to come after just 15 career starts.
There was a very smart debut run from Rushmoor Hazel at Tralee, clocking 28.17. The track has been lightning fast for a fair old while now, but there is still a huge degree of future promise from a debut of this sort of time. It will be very interesting to see where she goes from here.
