British Performance of the Week - 4 May 2026

Dowling Duffs up his Derby rivals

Despite the track record from Ballymac Duffle in the opening round of the Star Sports & Orchestrate Ltd English Greyhound Derby, it was not completely cut and dry that he would win performance of the week. From a visual point of view, both Texas Jack and Ballymac Deniro were spectacular as well, setting things up for a superb second round. In the end though, a track record performance had to take the win.

There was a new track record at Star Pelaw as well, this one over the sprint trip from Foulkscourt Bono. He has had three runs so far over two bends at the track, winning all of them. He has only had 12 starts in his life, so there could be a little bit more to come from him in time.

Monmore has been an incredibly happy hunting ground for Armagh Daithi throughout his career, and he added another win at the Wolverhampton track to his credit on Thursday night. With the Derby on, there should be some decent opportunities to come for him in the coming weeks to add to that.

There have been a lot of decent times over six bends at Central Park this year with The Other Winx adding another to that list on Saturday night. Already a dual Category One finalist since she was stepped up in trip for Maxine Locke, she continues to produce smart efforts. 

There were some tight-knit times at Romford on Friday where Headford Sarah just produced the pick of them. She was unfancied by punters at 12/1 but a 3.61 split was an exceptional start to her contest, giving her rivals no chance of getting back into things from that point.

Another very quick hound was seen at Sunderland on Friday. The opening round of the Derby kept the sprint win of Bower Sheeran a little under the radar. Only Walshes Hill and Stonepark Hoffa have gone quicker and the latter was hand-timed. Things didn't exactly go 100% to plan for the winner either, so he is another who might still have better in the tank.

Just three greyhounds have dipped under 29 seconds so far in 2026 for Hove's 500m. Vahbelle added her name as the third in that list on just her seventh career start on Saturday. Her efforts at Romford were solid but since she has run on a more galloping track, she has taken a fair step forward from that.  

For the second week in a row, Swift Kipper was the winner at Nottingham. Terry Munslow's bitch has been in flying form over both the 480m and 500m distance of late and is going to be building a nice fan club at the Colwick Park circuit. Last Monday's win was her seventh from her last 10 starts.

Doncaster has become a lucky track for Romeo Talisker who took the step up to six bends in his stride there on Saturday night. He looked like he was going to master the runner-up going into the third bend but he took a while longer to get past. When he did, he roared clear to land a win in the quickest time of the year so far. 

Down the road at Sheffield where Kelly Hodson's Romeo Force took the performance of the week with a smart 500m success. It was a run right up there with the best in his career to this point, ending the winning streak of his kennelmate Romeo Cobra at five. 

Da Mighty Man took the Dunstall Park POW with the quickest graded run of the year so far. His 28.19 matches up well with the times that were being produced in the recent Arena Racing Company Laurels over the same trip, a competition that he was unfortunate to be drawn in a very tricky heat.

No dog has covered the 480m trip at Newcastle this year quicker than Hardwick Woody did in a Thursday night A1. His 28.30 was the same time that Woltemade clocked when he won the final of the Northern Puppy Derby back in February, and a time that would have been 12th on the list in 2025. 

Back-to-back weeks now Strathrannoch has won the Yarmouth award, adding a come from behind win to the one that he scored from the front a week prior. There are some very smart efforts in his back catalogue around both this track and when winning an open at Romford, so he is far from a one trick pony. 

There was a winning end to the puppy status of Hazelgrove Dawn who landed an A4 just a spot shy of the quickest time that she has produced. It was her sixth graded win at the track, showing the best pace to the bend in each of those successful efforts.

The move from Swindon to the Valley has been the making of Vanessas Tiger who picked up his third win at the track. 16.02 was a new best run at the track from him, a time that just saw him into the top 15 of the year over 260m.

Harlow saw Tinks Jester pick up his first win over four bends at the track since March of last year, doing it in style. 26.25 has only been beaten once this year and that was by Coolemore Azzabi whose winning time in March was the quickest at the track over 415m since the end of 2023.