British Performance of the Week - 19 October 2026

Warrior leads weekly winners with Kent Derby triumph

The final of the Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby was the feature of the Central Park card on Saturday night with Annadown Warrior landing his second Category One triumph for Maxine Locke. He produced a sub 29-second time off a slow break, although that was to his benefit, reading the action ahead of him well to slip around the inside at the opening bend into an unassailable lead. 

Adelinesfirstdog took the other major British final of the weekend with a slick front-running performance in the BetGoodwin Steel City Cup. He was a surprise winner for punters but he had shown steady improvement over the last couple of months and was primed to take his chance when he could as one of a remarkable three in the decider for Richie Taberner. 

At Dunstall Park there was another win for Fahrenheit Jess who produced the quickest time of the year so far over the 480m distance. Given the quality of performer in the Laurels and the Birmingham Cup, that has to go a long way of a bitch who is still only 19 months old. To have the chance of winning an Oaks at that age is remarkable even for the sensational training talents of Graham Holland. 

The semi-final stage of the Coral 100 Champion Stakes was at Romford on Friday night where Grouchos Gregor went quickest for Kelly Wilton. Wilton landed her first Cat One victory with Fortanach Col (runner-up on Friday to Gregor) in the Time 3 Steps to Victory, with Gregor chasing home Woltemade in the Ladbrokes Gold Cup. It has been a spectacular first year with a license and could get even better!

Credit has to be given to Doncaster for putting up the money for a Category One puppy competition over 450m. Returning Storm skipped around the venue with the quickest time, making it a worthwhile trip up for David Mullins, with a few surprises in the heats including a couple of the co-favourites exiting in the opening round..

There was a quickest time of the year set over 500m at Hove as Bikini Bullet laid down a marker for the upcoming Coral Gold Collar which starts at the track next weekend. The previous holder of the quickest run was one Annadown Warrior which shows the quality that the daughter of Ballymac Kingdom possesses, just in case anyone had any doubts about the Coronation Cup winner.

A quick swing around the north east now where Glengar Phantom was a very impressive winner at Newcastle making it 2/2 so far for Tom Heilbron. A BOYLE Sports Irish Derby semi-finalist just six weeks ago, he looks a serious tool for the kennel to go to war with, especially with the All England Cup coming up to close out the year. 

At Sunderland there was a flying sprint win from Mossend Lav who found his trapping boots at the best possible time. He has been in sparkling form in recent weeks, notching up a third win on the bounce since returning to action, all over the sprint distance here. A solid enough performer over four bends, he has found his calling now that he has dropped in trip to two bends. 

Over to Star Pelaw where Singalong Hazel is making a serious impression, winning for the second time in three starts for Roy Smith. 14.52 in a graded race last week in a sprint, she went even better this time around with a flying 435m time. Her 25.40 is only six spots off the quickest of the year so far at the track. 

Down the A1 to Nottingham where Ballymac Gian cashed in on the promise he had shown in runs at Doncaster and Sheffield with a very slick time in a maiden sprint. The track was running fast (I know, I'm as surprised as you are) but stopping the clock in 17.53 needs a huge amount of respect in any book. 17.41 is the fastest of the year so far over 305m, set by Romeo Steel.

Makeit Again was the top performer at Towcester over the weekend, scoring in good style over 460m. She picked up a couple of wins over a shorter four-bend trip at Romford and that speed came in handy up in trip. There was also a case that it could have been Forgottotellya over 500m who was the top winner here, with little to choose between them. 

Things were a little more clearcut at Valley where Fastlane George dipped under 16 seconds in a sprint. He is proving to be an excellent dual trip performer at present, making the final of the Welsh Derby, arriving in that Category Two decider unbeaten. This sprint win was good for a tie for 11th best of the year, the third time that he has in those 11 in 2026. 

There was a decent win for Holding Aero at Monmore on what was an excellent weekend for Richie Taberner. He has made four Category One semi-finals this year, on each occasion winning his heat. This was a success on his home sand with a couple of those early heat wins at 33/1 and 12/1!

Yarmouth saw a couple of efforts that could have won the prize with the vote just going the way of Gundy over Cappy Cailin after the going was taken into consideration. Both of them were excellent A1 wins from the front but the Saturday performance just won out after producing what was probably his best run at the track last week when chasing home the POW winner Slick Senator

It is back-to-back wins for Roanna Nena at Kinsley, stepping up a few spots on her 16.00 effort from last week with a 15.95 this time around. She has got very limited miles on the clock and was seen in an A3 between her POW winning effort and now where she ran well in third. If she strengthens up a little more over the winter, she can kick on again in 2027.

There are less than two weeks to go until Rains Bono becomes a veteran performer but that was not enough to slow him down and stop him from winning the POW award with an impressive sub 15-second success. He has taken well to racing at Harlow, winning four of his seven starts there, taking him to 19 wins overall.