British Performance of the Week - 23 February 2026

Picture credit - Gary Garner

Wallis's Wild wins another Category One

A second Category One win of the year for Mongys Wild came on Saturday night at Monmore as he took out the final of the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket by the minimum margin over Droopys Flare. The pair have served up some excellent clashes over the last year, and hopefully we will be treated to further head to head contests as the year progresses. There should also be a mention for another Mark Wallis-trained hound in Crafty Alejandro who was only a length and a half off the track record in a sprint.

The other Category One final to be decided last week was the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby. Woltemade took the crown for Jimmy Fenwick, leading home his kennelmate Ballymac Service. A 28.30 win for a puppy should be celebrated but it was such a messy contest, and losing Backtoyourbest put a damper on the night for many. Condolences to the Carol Weatherall team.

Another youngster with the potential for stardom is Droopys Graph. Patrick Janssens has a genuinely outstanding performer on his hands and a leading player for the Derby as long as his lack of experience doesn't cost him. He will get a first crack in Category One company soon enough and his Central Park win on Saturday night suggests he will be a leading contender. 

Burrows Eclipse was the first dog to dip under 29 seconds over 500m at Hove this year on Thursday night. He made a Category One final and three semis last year, mixing four and six bends to good effect. An easy dog to be a fan of, he deserves his spot in further top table competitions this year. 

The recent return to Romford has been a real fillip for Brindle Bully, absolutely running riot on Friday night having timed his exit from the boxes to perfection. It's hard when coming from the same litter as Bockos Diamond and March On Freddie to make his own headlines, but he did exactly that last week in one of the top runs of his career. 

Star Pelaw on Sunday night saw a string of solid times but none that matched the sprint win of Nah Then Keefill. She has been a smart performer over both two and four bends at the track, the type to rarely ever run a bad race. It was the 19th win of her career, 11 of those in opens.

One of the big surprises of last week came at Dunstall Park where Longacres Arles ended the unbeaten record of Good Acclaim. The winner has made a smart start to his own career, behind Crafty Alejandro at Monmore the week before but the winner of four of his first six.

Sheffield saw some solid runs without anything setting the track on fire, the closest would be Tiermana Blaze for David Fradgely. He dipped under 29 seconds when winning over 500m on Sunday on a slightly slow track and from last to first. His bend running put him in position to scoot away down the back.

Early pace is the tool of choice for Salacres Lock Up who was by far the quickest winner at Towcester last week. The 500m is at the top end of his stamina range but a dog who can produce times in the 15.70s for the 270m distance is always going to be able to get them at it early over four bends. His dam was a quarter-finalist in the English Derby, finishing in front of a finalist in the first and third round.

Kereight Fraud continued her hot spell at Yarmouth last week, this time over six bends. It was her fourth open race win of 2026 already and the 27th of her career. The way that she mixes four and six bends without missing a trick is a credit to Erica Samuels, and it would be lovely to see her pass that talent onto a litter one day.

Suffolk Downs is very much a specialist track and one of those who really enjoys the place is Michelle Brown's Tomahawk. He has three open race wins there this year, with his effort last week comfortably the quickest that he has stopped the clock at, 23.47. Not many have ever gone quicker around there, less than two lengths off the clock.

The most impressive part of the win from Mr Flashy on Saturday night at Oxford was just how well he drove the opening couple of bends from his wide draw. He is not the most electric trapper but his pace from line to bend is smart, and then add in his bend running capabilities and it is no surprise that he is running up a sequence. 

There is not very much of Skyfall Mini, weighing just 24kg, but she is a smart performer as she showed once more last Monday at Nottingham. Squeezing through on the rails around the opening turns, she quickly scampered clear to grab her 10th career win on start number 29.

Cloheena Bully seems to have settled in well to his new surroundings at Sunderland, winning his second D1 contest in three goes last week. He was a top grade performer at Hove prior to that where he won a maiden open last May, running Broadway Murty to two lengths the following month. He could prove hard to topple in D1s in his new home. 

A Doncaster A1 went to Foxwood Carter on Monday to claim an early and unassailable lead at the track in POW. He has kicked off 2026 in good heart, winning three of his last five outings. He is the top performer in the first litter from Bockos Jon Jo to hit the track.

There were two wins at the Valley last week for Da Scallywag, picking up a graded sprint success to kick off his week and an open win over the same trip on Sunday. Sprinting saw him to best effect at Dundalk earlier on in his career, and while he has picked up wins over four bends at this track, the recent drop to sprinting appears to have suited him. 

Kinsley saw some solid sprinting wins last week as well, with the pick of them just coming from Bellmore Ozzy. He is a veteran now but this was his first race start since last May and his first win since February of last year. It will be interesting to see if he can go on from here. 

Ritzy Queen landed the top effort at Harlow last week with a sprint win of her own. An A1 winner at Crayford and D1 at Central Park in her time, she produced some absolutely flying sectionals over four bends at Harlow last summer but it is over this trip that she seems best suited.