British Performance of the Week - 6 January 2026

First week of 2026 - first track record falls!

There is only one place that we can possibly start this week and that is with Romford's new 575m track record holder Gary The Arb. He has shown plenty of his top form at the track in the past, making back-to-back Champion Stakes finals, so another quick time from him was no surprise. He has been a star for the Belinda Green kennels since making his debut in late 2023, and he still has another six months until he is a veteran!

Speaking of back-to-back finalists in the same Category One, Missile One (who made the Olympic final in 2024 and 2025) showed his class at Hove once more this week with a smart 29.11. That would've ranked high amongst the best times of 2025 over 500m, and is right up there with the best of his form at his home track.

Another who was winning at a favourite track was Fabulous Aria at Towcester. She was turned over last week but the Oaks finalist wasted no time getting herself back on track with a fluent display. Like many of the four-bend stars in the Patrick Janssens kennel, she'll just keep ticking over in these one-offs.

Toddys Wolf has made a fair impact since arriving at Tom Heilbron's. He was sent off favourite for his National Sprint semi-final but crowding at the opening bend lost him all chance there. It would have been the second quickest time of 2025 over Sunderland's sprint trip had it been a few days earlier, behind only Stonepark Hoffa's hand-timed track record from back last February.

At the other end of the distance spectrum, there was an excellent run over six bends at Sheffield where Very Elegant clocked 39.11. She is a powerful runner over the trip, so it is a bit of a surprise that she has only been seen once over further than the 660m, when runner-up to Droopys Flotilla over Nottingham's 730m. She was only beaten a neck on that occasion.

Doncaster also saw an excellent performance with Bouncing Monarch producing another strong run to add to his young CV full of promise. A Steel City Cup and Jimmy Wright Future Stars finalist, he was well suited to the long run to the bend at Stainforth and is a player in the four-bend Cat Ones on a galloping track this year.

There was a hugely promising UK debut from Bockos Frankel at Suffolk Downs. He had shown plenty of ability in his unbeaten three starts in Ireland and on a very different track, he displayed his pace and power. A proper gallop is going to suit him much better but he will have learnt plenty about racing here, and that will stand him in good stead.

The sole back-to-back winner on the list this week is Longacres King at Monmore. He was a single spot different to his winning run from a week back, adding a third straight D1 win at the track, improving on his calculated time with each of them. A smart type with Liz McNair when known as King Jackson, he has taken well to the full-time drop to sprinting with Pat Doocey.

There were a couple of impressive A1 winners at Central Park, with Half Jarred just producing the quicker of the two times. He was sent off a warm order in the betting and that was quickly proved to be correct as he led up to start his 2026 in the best way possible. Fastlane Blu was just three spots slower in his A1 success, similarly away and gone.

At Oxford, Hoholetsgo proved to be a semi-appropriate winner given we have only just left the festive season. She landed an intertrack in an already decent enough 27.22, with 40 then taken off for the going. She has only had three races in Britain and just a pair at Cork prior to that, so her career is very much in its infancy. She is bred to be very smart, by Droopys Sydney out of Singalong Sally.

It was another quiet week at Dunstall Park but there was time for Dixie Again to produce a decent sprint clock in a D2. He had won in the grade below the week prior and is still in single figure starts for his career to this point. He has won six of those nine and finished second in two, so there is no knocking his consistency early doors.

There was a shock for punters at Newcastle as a top grade contest was torn apart by Opera Boy. A regular in the 4.70s and 4.80s on the split, he was sporting his Christmas present of a new pair of trapping boots, producing a 4.54 sectional. It was his first win in an A1 and a clear career best on the clock at odds of 22/1, with more than seven lengths back to the second!

Birtley Hoopstar is in flying form over the sprint distance at Star Pelaw of late, winning for the fourth straight time. She is from a fascinating litter, a sprinter herself, she has Capel Moon as a litter sister who will take her chance in the opening round of the Cesarewitch on Saturday night!

It was a fourth win in eight starts for Aghaburren Ben, landing a Nottingham A1. He has done most of that winning from behind, leading on the run-in in a pair of them but he led from a much earlier stage last week, and that is always going to make him a very hard dog to hold.

Yarmouth saw meetings abandoned last week so we have to go back to Monday's meeting for a top grade success for Who Dares Wins. It was his first A1 win since March but he kept stronger company through the summer and autumn, in the East Anglian Derby semi-final when Romeo Steel broke the track record.

Although Holborn Betty was far from the quickest end time at Kinsley last week, when taking into account the way that the track ran for each of the meetings, hers was deemed to be the top performance. She has 12 wins from her 32 starts now, a tough one for the racing manager to pin down given her early pace.

A drop into a D2 was enough to see Crokers Lady rebound to the pick of her form at Valley, clocking a very smart 15.82. There were only seven times quicker though the whole of 2025, adding her name to the list on the final day of the year. Her litter brother Crokers Best led them all with a 15.60.

At Harlow, it was another week for the sprinters with Tommys Clan coming out with the top run of the week. Less than four lengths off the quickest of 2025 in his D3 success, he led to the run-in when returned to four bends yesterday at the Essex venue.