Dinons

The horse's most recent victory came in a Class 2 race at Uttoxeter on 28 July 2024, the kind of big-occasion win that keeps an older campaigner relevant. Before that, Dinons won at Hexham in June 2022 and has also prevailed at Class 4 level, where it boasts a 25 percent win rate — two wins from eight races. This tells you something important: put Dinons in a Class 4 race on normal ground at the right venue, and it can win. On standard ground, the horse wins roughly 1 in every 5 races (3 wins from 14), which is a genuinely respectable rate for a horse at this level. Hexham has been particularly kind, delivering two wins from eight races there.

Craig Nichol has been Dinons's most frequent partner, and together they have won at a 22 percent rate — two victories from nine races — suggesting a good understanding between horse and rider. Brian Ellison's Norton yard, which has sent out 43 winners this season, clearly keeps Dinons competitive and ready. The problem is recent form: Dinons hasn't won in its last six races, with a spread of fifth, seventh, eighth, third, and two no-races. At 13 years old and 27 months removed from its last victory, the horse is in the twilight stretch of its career. Still, its willingness to keep competing after more than two years without a win says something about its constitution, and for a horse that genuinely likes normal ground and its preferred courses, another victory is not impossible.