BRITISH PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK

Big race winners won’t always make the chart, but for Coronation Cup winner Antigua Rum, it was a career best performance that thoroughly deserves acknowledgement

Cronody Zero clocked the fastest sprint of the year at Perry Barr in last December and stamped that form with an excellent 17.65 for Nottingham’s 305m on Monday. Droopys Reel could have easily featured twice on the table, courtesy of fast clocks at Sheffield and Monmore. We’ve decided to give her the nod for Saturday’s Wolverhampton win but give the Sheffield nomination to 19 month old Inca Coney who was only 15 spots slower than Reel for the Owlerton 280 metres.

Elsewhere Killeacle Gus has the fastest race time to date for the Hove 500m, and has won five of his last six. At Harlow, Moaning Matrix has six wins and a second in his last seven and the quickest 415 in while. At Newcastle, puppy Swift Guard takes over from litter brother Morpeth Lad. Still in the North East, one of the youngest pups on the card, Debbie Calvert’s aptly named Optimism, clocked the fastest (level break) time of the week at Sunderland.

There can have been no more exciting youngster go to traps within the last week than 20 month old King Axle, who runs like a barely schooled pup but clocked 29.16 in the fourth race of his life at Central Park.

Finally at Poole, Ballyoak Badger retained her place on the table, despite a significant challenge from daughter Ballyoak Wilma who won her first D1.