Nap of the Day: Class-dropper should take a bit of beating on Saturday

There was no shortage of candidates for the Nap of the Day on Saturday, with eight meetings set to take place across the UK & Ireland, but there was one that stood out to me.

He runs at Newbury, in the only Group race on the Premier Raceday card, and here's the case in full.

REGIONAL is a proven Group 1 sprinter who ought to capitalise on a drop in class at Newbury on Saturday.

Edward Bethell's seven-year-old made the step up to the highest level in the summer of 2023, finishing fifth in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York that August before winning the Sprint Cup at Haydock the following month.

The son of Territories hasn't won in five starts since, but in his defence he's been keeping very good company.

His second to Aussie star Asfoora in the 2024 King Charles III Stakes speaks for itself, as does - admittedly to a lesser extent - his third behind American Affair and Frost At Dawn in the same race last month.

In between those Royal Ascot appearances, he again got close to another Group 1 scalp in Meydan, Dubai, placing third in the Al Quoz Sprint behind George Boughey's Believing.

He also ran in this very race last year, which was arguably his worst performance for a little while. He was fourth that day, behind the reopposing Elite Status and Kind Of Blue, by just over a length.

However, the latter's form has dropped off a cliff and the former's has petered out too, causing connections to apply first-time cheekpieces. On top of that, the selection was penalised last year and forced to concede five pounds to those rivals - that's not the case this time.

Jarraaf is another rival with something to prove against this sort of opponent. He is rated 10lbs inferior to the favourite and arrives on the back of a sub-par outing at Royal Ascot.

Diligent Harry was victorious last time out and his best performances give him a chance in this company, but he isn't guaranteed to run to such a level and a three-pound penalty makes his job even harder.

At bigger prices, King's Gamble and Khaadem are most interesting.

The former hasn't run in 351 days but is rated 110 after just five starts - only two coming over this trip. He's one to watch very closely in the market.

As for the latter, he lacks consistency at the grand age of nine and also returns from a long layoff (315 days), but is another who's very capable on his day.

But all things considered, if Regional runs his race I strongly fancy he'll be back in the winners' enclosure for the first time in coming up to two years.

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