NAP of the Day: Dinons can continue resurgence

The Flat takes a break in Britain on Sunday after a busy Super Saturday containing stellar cards at Ascot, Newmarket and York, with attention temporarily turning to the jumps before England’s historic bid to land a first European Championship against Spain.

There are two UK meetings across the day, with the domestic action revolving around cards at Perth and Stratford. My Sunday NAP of the Day comes in the feature 3m handicap chase at Perth, where Brian Ellison will be hoping to extract another victory out of his recent recruit.

The 3m handicap chase (15:45) at Perth looks a competitive affair and Christian Williams is sending Cap Du Nord on the long journey north from his base in Glamorgan.

Williams is 4-11 at Perth over the last five seasons and saddled two winners and two thirds at the track’s meeting 10 days ago. Cap Du Nord arrives in reasonable nick, having produced his best RPRs since last May on his two most recent starts, including one in victory at Plumpton in March.

Off a mark of 122 this veteran is expected to be competitive again, although there are several interesting rivals for him to overcome.

Last-time-out winners No Regrets and Tiger Orchid will have their supporters, while Half Shot has slipped to a mark 2lb lower than when he accounted for subsequent Edinburgh National scorer Inis Oirr in November.

Brian Ellison managed to conjure a York hat-trick out of Tolstoy on Friday and might be up to taking a decent jumps prize with Dinons, who is fancied to make every yard and beat the rest for the top dual-purpose operator.

15:45 Perth Odds

Not much was expected from Dinons on his stable debut for Ellison and first run in two years in a handicap hurdle at Hexham 31 days ago, but he duly went clear by 10 lengths to run out a smooth winner at odds of 16-1.

He could have jumped better that day and is expected to give more respect to his fences now he switches discipline.

Dinons went off a single-figure price for the 2019 Albert Bartlett when he was formerly trained by Gordon Elliott, and it looks significant that he has been kept in training as an 11-year-old, having raced only six times since August 2020.

Dinons was obviously rated much higher in those days but can fend off the challenge of other likely pace angles Barbados Buck’s and Everyday Champagne, with Ellison sure to have waited for the right moment to unleash his fragile veteran in a bid to maintain his unbeaten record for the stable.

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