British Performance of the Week - 15 June 2026

Silver Salver kicks off in style

The opening round of the Kent Silver Salver saw a single winner dipping under the 16-second barrier at Central Park and that was the Richard Rees-trained Shadow Storm. He has been one of the top sprinters in the country for over a year now but he is yet to meet Good Acclaim who is the other who has claims to being the top two-bend dog at present. As and when they do finally meet, let's hope it's box office!

The September 24 litter of that contains Annadown Chip is proving to be exceptional in their puppy stages. A winner on Derby final night at Towcester, he went up to Sunderland to produce the quickest time of the night on Friday. Not only was he beating out the other pups in the Cat Two competition but also his elders who were British Bred in their Cat Two opening heats.

Arthur Bitter made his UK debut on Sunday at Towcester, hailing form the same Grangeview Ten - Annadown Beauty litter. He had been unbeaten in four starts in Ireland before joining Pat Godfrey and looked to have strong claims of making a winning debut on paper. On sand, it was spectacular as he dipped under 29 seconds to run riot in a maiden contest. 

Nottingham saw a track record last week over the shorter of the two-bend distances as Good Acclaim made his early bid to be the top sprinter of the week. He is Ireland bound to fly the flag in the Sprint Cup at Dundalk, bold campaigning which is a credit to the competitiveness of connections. 

There was just one spot which separated Kilshenane Diva from the sprint track record at Star Pelaw last week as she stopped the clock in 14.21. She had already shown her speed at the track over both two and four bends and with so few miles on the clock, she should have her best days still ahead of her. 

Another to make an impression over a shorter two-bend trip this week was Catchem Boyo at Monmore. He was up against his kennelmate Newinn Batchelor whose track record it was that Good Acclaim broke at Nottingham. Having come away well, he went just 10 spots off the clock at the Wolverhampton circuit. 

In a week where there were plenty of smart sprint times, the winning run of Swift Hostile at Sheffield should not be underestimated. It was not to the level of his track record breaking run (naturally) but he has proven himself to be a very smart performer not only at Owlerton but by making the finals of the Golden Sprint at Romford and the Dunstall Dash. 

It makes a change not to see Brunch Pal win the POW at Central Park, connections instead opting to go to Romford with him. 575m has already proven to be well within his capabilities, stopping the clock at 35-dead on Friday night. A smart performer at Shelbourne last summer and autumn, he has proven to be a very astute pickup for the Dave Lee team. 

At Doncaster there were solid winning performances over all four trips that were in action. Craig Morris had the quickest of the winners over three of them with the pin narrowly falling on Droopys Buck to pick up the award. He appreciated a slight drop in the company around him and showed his skills with an impressive success. 

Laughil Larry landed a blow for the older brigade as the only veteran to make the list this week. There was only graded action on at Dunstall Park but that didn't stop some solid times over both two and four bends. Larry's A1 winning effort on Saturday night saw him blitz his field by seven lengths. 

There was a single open race at Yarmouth on Saturday night but the winner there was five lengths shy of what Trumpers Bobcat produced in his A1 effort which opened up the card. An East Anglian Derby finalist in 2024, he is still performing at a very strong level for Kevin Cobbold.

At Hove the winner was away from the Thursday night opens as Mob Moretti produced the pick of the runs from last week. He did not have close to the same level of opponents to beat as he was downgraded into a D2 contest but he went about his business well, and does have an open race win to his credit from back in April.

The top run from Newcastle came from Crokers Luna who produced the best run of her career so far to land a win on Friday afternoon. Hers was an A2 success but once more, it was the manner in which she scored that was so impressive. A 4.53 split (also the best of her career) saw her clear her rivals early before powering clear down the back.

It was back-to-back wins at Kinsley for Killieford Negri who produced his fourth sub 28-second run from his last six starts to land an A3 contest. He is 120 races deep into his racing life now but is still showing form which makes him one of the top locals. 

Only five dogs have covered the 260m at the Valley quicker in 2026 than Hawkfield Dash did last week. Speaking of the Irish Sprint Cup earlier on, his half-brother Hawkfield Ozark was a winner of that competition back in 2022.

Another sprinter to finish things off where at Harlow it was Moaning Mai Tai proved to be the top performer. From a family who have picked up a slew of wins at the Essex venue, it was a 17th career success for this bitch.