British Performance of the Week - 14 September 2026

Flare stand out a mile once more 

A pair of Category One competitions at the semi-final stage at Dunstall Park on Saturday night saw Droopys Flare produce the pick of the five runs. She has won 10 straight and 15 of her last 16, the only defeat in that time coming with a short head reverse to Mongys Wild in the final of the Golden Jacket back in February. She exudes star quality and is going to be very difficult to beat on Saturday night. 

It was an exceptional week for the Craig Morris team, with Droopys Buck putting himself into the final of the Click Competitions East Anglian Derby on Wednesday night as the fastest semi-final winner. He produced a 13-spot quicker sectional when winning a trial stake in July, with this winning time just 19 spots off the track record of Romeo Steel.

Darcys Dude added to the Morris success on Friday night in the semis of the Coral Puppy Cup at Romford. A 3.67 split set him on his way to stopping the clock in 23.61. He has shown that he can win from behind as well, taking his heat having missed the break, now the winner of four of his five career starts. 

At Towcester there was a BGBF Produce Stakes semi-final win from Harton Whirlwind. He clocked the quickest time in the opening round before finishing runner-up in his second round heat last week. He put it all together for a spectacular performance on Sunday afternoon, a repeat of which can give him a second Category One title of the year. 

There are only so many more superlatives that we can give to Scooby The Lady who made it 6/6 in action at Central Park on Saturday night. The opening round of the Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby is on October 3, and she will be the favourite to lift a second Category One title at the venue. 

It has been great to see Wicky Ned back over the summer, making the final of the Time Northern Flat at Newcastle, with the veteran impressive in his Sheffield win over the weekend. He already has three Category One titles at Owlerton, could he be set for another in the BetGoodwin Steel City Cup which starts on October 4?

Elsewhere in Yorkshire there was a flying 483m win at Doncaster from Keefill Mo. His 29.14 is the third quickest of the year so far, a career-best for the pup in his 15th start. There should still be more to come, with the British Bred competitions in 2027 likely to see plenty of him. 

At the other end of the career arc is veteran Coppice Saphire who has been flying in her wins of late, successful for the second straight week. She is responsible for two of the 22 sub 27 second times at Sunderland so far this year, one of three bitches on the list. It was career win number 23 for her at a strike rate that is nudging 38%. 

Another in the north east to back up a win from last week's column is Fabulous Harmony. She now has four wins in a row at Newcastle, finishing out of the first three just once in her last 15 starts. Her trapping has been improved of late which when combined with her stamina over the 480m is making her a very hard one to stop.

Sunnyside Gurkha was hard to stop until he ran into Pothole Bob a fortnight back, seeing his win streak come to an end at eight. He was straight back to winning ways on Saturday night at Star Pelaw, and it would be no surprise to see him adding a few more wins in a row in the coming weeks.

There was plenty of smart form from Burrows Aries when he was trained in Ireland, his third to last run over there seeing him beaten just three and a half lengths by BOYLE Sports Irish Greyhound Derby finalist Wi Can James. He got off the mark at the second time of asking at Hove last week in the style of one who is going to play a role in competitions over here. 

A move back to racing at Monmore from Nottingham proved the right move for Carrick Scholsey who was hugely impressive in his 630m win on Saturday night. 37.63 ties him for fifth quickest this year, with three of the top five coming in the final of the Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic and the other two from Vhagar. It's smart company to be in as he took his record over track and trip to 6/9.

Meanwhile at Nottingham, it was Swift Kipper who produced the pick of last week's runs, adding another success to her bulging resume of them. She has been in red-hot form for the majority of this year, running 27 times from February 20 to now, winning 15 of them. It is no mean feat to keep a bitch sweet for that long. 

Any sub 16-second time at the Valley over two bends is a smart effort and that is exactly what Sadele produced on Sunday. She has been quietly progressive in her 22 starts, winning seven of them, including D4, D3 and D2 at Monmore as well as an open at Star Pelaw ahead of this victory. 

A week after Black Chintz set a new fastest of the year over Harlow's 238m distance, Headford Cooper clocked an identical time to join the veteran bitch. Even with the going added to the time, it was still by far and away the best effort of his career in race number 64.

It was also a sprint win that collected the prize at Kinsley as Knotmor Ace grabbed the victory in a D2 contest. He is not a dog who has done a lot of winning in his career, just 4/40 now, but he also has an open race win at Sheffield to his credit as well as this win which sits him 11th on the year over 268m.