British Performance of the Week - 2 February 2026

Back-to-back six-bend track record breaking weeks at Central Park

After the track record from Mongys Wild in the final of the Cesarewitch last week, it was the turn of Burrows Charm to break a stayers clock at Central Park this time around. He had run over 650m at Oxford in the past but this was the furthest that his stamina had been asked to go for current connections. He looked to relish the new distance, taking seven spots off the old clock.

Bockos Buster has been a regular in this column already in 2026 for his sprinting exploits at Nottingham. The return to 480m this week sees him on the list once more with a slick Monmore win a week ahead of the start of the Ladbrokes Winter Derby. He made finals of the East Anglian Derby and Classic over four bends in 2025 and could kick off this year with another deep competition run.  

One who has designs on the biggest four-bend race of all later in the year is Droopys Graph. He has quickly shown that a short-priced defeat on his UK debut was merely a minor blip, winning all of his three starts at Towcester since, improving on the clock with each one. He is still a blank page in terms of the ceiling of his ability which makes him one of the strongest of the home defence for the Derby.

There are plenty of sprinters on the list this week, led by the outstanding run at Romford on Friday night from Nightingale Crew. It's the second time that he has tickled 13.20 around the London Road venue where Chopchop Rainbow's track record stands at 13.17. This was just career start number 14.

A Nottingham win for Da Don on Monday evening came at the expense of Bockos Buster so the form got a timely boost at the weekend, though it was strong enough already. He is a litter brother to Coral Silver Maiden winner Zenith Kindy from a repeat mating that threw IGOBF National Puppy Stake winner Untold Rufiyaa the first time. 

At Star Pelaw there was a slick two-bend win from Burrow Bell. She has crossed the line first in four of her last five starts and 10 of her last 16 overall. This was the first time that she had been seen over two bends since October 4, producing her best sprinting effort to date.

Over six bends there was a second week of Droopys Mikado heading to Suffolk Downs to produce a smart time. She won over 500m at Towcester to kick off her 2026 campaign before this pair of wins. In her current heart, she is going to be a tough dog to stop around here on a Tuesday for the foreseeable future.

Another who was notching up a hat-trick of wins was Alright Twinkle. She has been consistency personified in those three successes over 450m with a single spot separating her three winning times. Considering her best form in Ireland came the only time that she tried 575y around Shelbourne, she is handling the trip and track well.

Hove now, and an impressive win from Scooby The Lady who was picking up her third win from six starts at the track. She had not managed to back up a smart debut win until her eighth career start but has now gone back-to-back and hopefully she can kick on from here to bigger and better things.

There was another sprinter taking the prize at Sheffield with Colliers Bucholz back on the top spot. He had dead-heated a few weeks back with Swift Hostile who landed the award last week solo having broken the Owlerton clock. With only graded races on the card this week, it was left to Paul Prior's black to regain his position. 

There was a first defeat at Dunstall Park for Oaks winner Butlers Lane at the paws of Bang On Edith. Nathan Hunt's winner was making her first start over 480m at the track after a pair of sprint races prior. Back up to four bends for the first time since August, it was an impressive performance from the daughter of Hiya Butt.

This week will see the start of the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby where Ballymac Buddy will be a strong contender after his win at Newcastle last Thursday night. He has made an excellent start to racing for Ted Soppitt, winning three of his first four starts, twice dipping into the 28.40s at the track.

Staying in that part of the world and Parkview Sprite made it back-to-back wins of the award at Sunderland. He is another who has been in flying recent form, winning four of his last five starts, keeping the company of Category One winners in his two defeats so far since in the care of Tom Heilbron. 

Gizmo Cashout has not been racing at Valley long but has already made a strong impression on the track, notching up a hat-trick of wins spread across three different months. Hopefully, he can keep himself on track one the next few months as the puppy is improving with each start. 

Doncaster was another Yorkshire track without their usual opens this week which saw Clona Chief picking up a pair of top grade wins over 450m. Monday saw the quicker of the two runs, with his Saturday win coming on his first day since losing his puppy status. 

It was a win in back-to-back weeks for Kereight Fraud at Yarmouth. She has hit a real purple patch in the last five or six weeks for Erica Samuels, now just one win away from a quarter century of victories. Seven of them have come in open races with wins over both the 462m and 659m trips at the track.

We may as well finish with a couple more sprinters to round out the week, kicking off with King Stevie at Kinsley. He was picking up a third straight win, a D2 at Star Pelaw before D2 and D1 at this track. He became a veteran at the start of the year but is in the form of his life at present. 

At Harlow it was Moaning Mai Tai who takes the win for a sprinting success. She comes from a great family for the Darren Whitton kennel who have won a slew of races between them, 218 across the 14 pups from two litters with only one winning fewer than eight times, with five of them boasting 24+.