British Performance of the Week - 11 August 2026

Vhagar leads the way at Monmore on Saturday 

The track at Monmore was on the slow side on Saturday night for the heats of the Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic and Gold Cup. Given that fact, it was a hugely impressive run from Vhagar to dip well under 38 seconds before the -40 going allowance came off. This is a track that has seen some of the best form of her career in the past, bidding to win this event for the second year on the bounce. 

Speaking of wins on the bounce, Slingshot Gazza continued his patch of sensational form at Newcastle on Thursday night, setting a new fastest of the year over the 290m distance in the process. He is now the proud owner of four of the top 11 times this year there, winning his third straight.

Another to produce a flying time last week was Newline Kielty, stopping the clock just half a length shy of the 450m clock at Doncaster. She has really hit her stride in recent weeks, finding herself in the final of the Arc Angel of the North, where there was no disgrace in finishing fifth after a bit of trouble. 

Headford Fiona staked her claim to Performance of the Week at Romford with a fluent win over 400m. She stopped the clock at 23.57 which is one of the top runs of her career, competing with a 16.18 win at Central Park. A 3.65 was a new best split, which if she could repeat on a regular basis will see her rack up an awful lot more wins. 

There was another success for Dave Lee's Brunch Pal who produced the best run of the week at Hove. It is the eighth time that he has had a mention in this column in 2026 (yes, I am that sad to count) and it feels likely that there are going to be a good number more given his strike rate around the tracks in the south, regularly scoring in very smart times. 

Savva Roberts took on 480m at Newcastle with Bockos Buster in the Time Northern Flat, making it to the final. That is plenty far enough for him, signing off for Kevin Boon with a win over two bends in another Time-sponsored event at Towcester on Derby final night. The return to a sprint trip saw an impressive win for him at Sheffield.

435m runners at Star Pelaw have been struggling to get a look in on a Saturday night in recent weeks with Sunnyside Gurkha adding a sixth straight win there at the weekend. He has got himself in a groove at present where he is doing everything right which means that none of his rivals are able to land a glove on him.

There were a coupe of closely knit times at Towcester on Sunday afternoon with Fabulous Aria just coming out with the better of the efforts. She is one of the top bitches in the country when she is on form, and looks to be running back into that sort of level again at present, with only eight weeks until the start of the Oaks, a competition she was sent off favourite in the final of in 2025.

Central Park has been running on the slow side in the summer weather but Mystical Batman still managed to break the 29-second barrier there on Saturday night, which feels like a strong run given current conditions. It was open race win number seven for his career, backing up a success at the same venue the week prior. 

Gallant Star ran just once in a sprint in his first 21 races, finishing last behind Pavilion Team at Towcester. The return to two bends combined with visiting Nottingham seems to have been what he has been searching for, picking up back-to-back wins at the Midlands venue in heats and final of a sprint competition.  Well supported in the market, he beat a smart field and might just have found his calling.

The youngest of the winners on the list this week was Elegant Shadow, who landed the Sunderland prize with a sprint success. This was her first sprint race and it quickly took over as the best run of her career, albeit only on start number 10. Her dam is from the first of three litters her own dam had to Droopys Sydney, with the second of them containing 2025 Derby winner Droopys Plunge.

The sprinting winners continued at Dunstall Park where Bogger Bale got the job done in a D1 for the second straight start. He has only had five runs at the Wolverhampton track since coming over from Ireland where he clocked the seventh quickest time of the year so far over Derry's 300y trip.

Strathrannnoch has got himself back in the winning groove at Yarmouth. He scored for the first time since May last week, quickly following that up with a half-length faster time. He was third in his semi-final of the East Anglian Derby last year, making the semis of the Champion Stakes and the Coronation Cup at Romford since. The EAD will surely be the aim again for one of the top locals. 

Droopys Halley is not the same dog he once was, winning multiple top grade contests at Yarmouth as well as an open at that track, but he produced one of his best runs at Harlow last week to pick up Performance of the Week over 415m in a time that tied him for the fourth quickest of the year. 

There was a sub 16-second sprint at Kinsley courtesy of Ballymac Baxter who produced the best run of his career. His two previous best had both come in the month of August last year, so this seems to be a time of year that he enjoys, showing again that he is a difficult dog to contain when he gets on the bunny. 

At Valley there was a winning run in a sprint from Fastlane George. He has been in great form in recent months over both two and four bends at the track, winning for the fifth time in his last 10 starts.