British Performance of the Week - 27 April 2026

Opera leads home the Brighton Belle

There were two Category One finals last week, both producing a shock winner. On Saturday night at Hove, Blackstone Opera took the Coral Brighton Belle for Seamus Cahill. She has been a very progressive type this year, and only a month ago we said that "there is no doubt better to come from her as she matures" in a race report and better there was!

Droopys Typical was the winner of the Bet St George Gymcrack at Sheffield on Sunday afternoon. Susan Watson's runner had only been a relatively cheap purchase at £2,300 from the sales last year, and she had proven to be an incredibly astute piece of business even before she took the £17,500 decider. Out of a Cat One winning stayer, it will be interesting to see where the limit of her stamina lies in time.  

There have been a string of new track records at Central Park this year over 664m but the time that Bluejig Outlaw produced on Saturday night might just hold up for a little bit longer than the others. He took almost four lengths off the previous clock, although he does not have many miles on the board himself, so perhaps he might have a little bit more left in him. 

As has been the case some often this year, sprinting wins were plentiful on the scoresheet. Uncle Ed joined in with a Romford win on Friday night that sits third quickest of 2026 so far. It was some performance on the drop back in trip for a dog who has been finding rivals too good in A1 of late at the track.

Newinn Bachelor is one of the top sprinters in the midlands and picked up another success to keep Kim Billingham-Hine on top of the home trainer rankings in Monmore's Open Championship. He grabbed 10 open race wins in 2025, including a track record at Nottingham. This was his third success of the current campaign. 

Ted Soppitt has kept his Sunnyside Ted busy this year and he bounced back to winning ways at Sunderland on Friday evening.  It was his third win of the year at the track, the same number that he has won at Star Pelaw as well in 2026. The win made it nine overall and he is still has puppy status for another month. 

There could easily have been another sprinter take the award at Doncaster with Roanna Mamba setting the quickest time of the year over two bends, but Keefill Goose did the same over the 483m trip and Phil Milner's charge just gets the nod in terms of time, though it was close. 

One track that didn't have a sprint winner for a change was Nottingham. There have been some excellent runs over 305m there this year but it was Swift Kipper this week who picked up the award for her 480m success. Only Newinn Oscar has gone quicker than her over track and trip so far in 2026. 

In a similar vein, just Unanimous Leon has gone quicker over Star Pelaw's 435m than Lotties Big Wave produced on Saturday night. She was on the radar of a couple of the top judges at the track and having been nibbled at in the market, duly produced a spectacular performance. She was making her racing debut at the venue, and surely it won't be the last time that she is seen there. 

At Towcester there was a lesser card than we have seen in recent weeks as the Derby trial stakes are over and the main event is still a few days away from kicking off. There were some solid enough winning times in the opens but it was the A2 win of Jazzy Mia that produced the best run of last week.

There was a superb performance from Strathrannoch at Yarmouth on Saturday, clocking 27.50. He is not a dog who wins as often as perhaps one of his ability should, but when he gets it right, he is a top performer at his home circuit. He has gone quicker in the past, stopping the clock in 28.25 back in November when beating Wrighty.

Millbank Burner has not had the open race successes of his litter brother Millbank Boiler, nor his half-brothers Churchfield Syd and Westfield Bullet, but he is a very decent performer in his own right. He is a top grade winner over both two and four bends at Dunstall Park, grabbing the award with a win over the shorter trip last week. 

Another week of nothing but graded at Newcastle as well but that didn't stop Ballymac Service producing a smart time in a Thursday A1. He is not far out of puppy stage, runner-up in the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby earlier on in the year, he is a more than useful performer. 

There was a quicker time that Coolemore Azzabi over both the two and four bends last week at Harlow but she produced a smart win over both trips within the seven days, and as such, she gets the nod. A past POW winner at the track for the top 415m effort seen this year, it was her sprint time that won her the day last week.

At Kinsley this week it was Grovenor Chief who just dipped under 28 seconds to take the award. Things have been a little bit stop-start for him since coming over from Ireland, with this his first win since a Doncaster success last September. He stopped the clock in a smart 27.61 in a recent Kinsley trial so the ability is still there.

We round out the week with a win for Random Vicky at the Valley. The veteran is nearing 100 races in her career but produced what was probably the second best run of her career on Sunday in a sprint at the Welsh track.