British Performance of the Week - 9 February 2026

Three Category One events got underway last week

A pair of Category One races kicked off at Monmore with Mongys Wild just edging out Gary The Arb as performance of the week. Belinda Green's charge was a smart winner over four bends but another sub 41-second time for the top stayer in the country led the way. He lost a few lengths at the opening bend, so ended up some way short of his 40.42 track record but it was enough to land the prize.

Another Mark Wallis runner to land POW was Pavilion Team at Towcester. This has been a happy hunting ground for him throughout his career, landing his 12th win at the track. He has never gone as quick as 15.37, however, just the second dog to dip under the 15.40 mark at the track over 270m.

At Romford, Underground Fizz picked up a third straight success over 575m, getting out and on the bunny which saw her dip under 35 seconds. She had found trouble in the semis of the Essex Vase at the track prior to the winning sequence, chasing home Tiffield Tarquin and Gary The Arb with subsequent Central Park track record breaker Burrows Charm back in fourth.

The other Category One event to make a start last week was at Newcastle where Copney Queen produced the quickest opening round time, which was probably a surprise to most. A winner of two of her three starts over two bends in Ireland, the step up to four for the first time in race action produced a massive step forward. She will take on last week's POW winner Ballymac Buddy in the semis on Thursday.

It was good to see Romeo Steel back in action on Saturday afternoon at Yarmouth. The Patrick Janssens-trained star was a comfortable scorer at short odds. That didn't really tell us much that we didn't already know about him, but he has returned in fine fettle and hopefully is set for another strong year.

The Oxford winning run of Alright Twinkle shows no signs of stopping. She picked up her fourth win in a row there on Saturday, and this time she turned much handier than has been the case. As such, she put more than five lengths into her rivals, stopping the clock in a flying 26.47 given that the track was subsequently given -20.

Speaking of flying, there were some more excellent sprinting wins this week, led by Avarua Lake for Richard Rees at Hove. He is a perfect 3/3 now for the kennel, adding to a win in his sole start in Ireland. There are going to be tougher assignments ahead but he looks more than capable of standing up to a bigger task.

Sunnyside Jayden picked up the award at Sunderland for his sprinting success. 17 starts over 261m at the track have yielded 14 wins to this point, including a perfect 3/3 so far this year. Doncaster, Newcastle, Sheffield and Star Pelaw have also seen him successful.3

A regular in this column already in 2026 is Colliers Bucholz. He landed another sprint at Sheffield on Sunday, his third win from his last four starts. The only defeat came when he was behind Swift Hostile when Rose Draper's dog broke the track record, so it's probably fair to forgive him that defeat!

There was a sprinting winner of the POW at Suffolk Downs as well as Moaning Hearns landed a 220m contest last Tuesday for Darren Whitton. He took over the fastest time of 2026 in the process and on a track that was rated -20. 

The Valley had open racing on their Sunday card where Epic Evelyn flirted with the 16-dead barrier in her sprint win. A couple of prior runs over the trip back in November had not yielded any success but this was a clear career-best run from her.

At the other end of the distance barrier was the win of One More Tune at Central Park. She had bounced back to winning ways a week prior, producing a time that was just 34 spots off the new clock. It was her third run in the top 10 times of the year to this point.

Star Pelaw on Sunday night saw Grantstown Cross produce the run of the week for Rab Galloway. He is having an excellent start to the year from a small team. A top grade scorer over two and four bends at Oxford when with Rachel Hill, the son of Epic Hero has won three of his nine starts for Galloway.

There was only graded racing at Nottingham last week but there was an open race winning time in the D1 from Skyfall Ginger. It was the best run of her career, a record that has a massive 15-month hole in the middle, so she is a credit to connections, coaxing her back to a strong level.

Doncaster was another track in a similar boat, no open racing but Keefill Dares clocked 27.73 in a 450m contest on a track that was rated just on the slow side. A litter sister to Maverick and Goose, it was the 17th victory for her on start number 52 and her 10th in a B1 contest. 

Castell Maggie picks up the award at Dunstall Park for her D1 winning effort, dipping under 16 seconds in the process. She was four spots shy of her 2026-leading best time which she clocked with a win in late-January. They are the only two runs from her this year, signing off at Swindon with a win back in November.

There have been 96 starts now in the career of Ballymac Alyssa, winning 31 of them, including a handicap from scratch last week in a sub 28-second time at Kinsley. She is still showing a strong level of form as she moves into the veteran stage of her career, having been a regular winner in this column.

There was a new fastest of the year over Harlow's 238m trip from Rileys Daughter. She had a top 10 time in 2025 with a November winning effort as well. Part of the only litter from sire Rileys Hill, they were born when he was just 15 months old, three months before he ran (and won) the only start of his career. Rileys Daughter has the most wins but litter brother Hollywood Bullet has the honour of being 5/5 so far in his career.