The Scottish Sun's Jim Delahunt scoops £4,000 Flat naps prize and starts new jumps competition with a winner

The easiest winner on Champions Day at Ascot was not on the racecourse but in the Coral/Racing Post Naps Competition, which was secured by Jim Delahunt of The Scottish Sun.

Delahunt, 62, was landing the Flat version of the daily naps challenge for the first time and was able to enjoy a stress-free Champions Day as his winning profit of £52.22 was £19.69 clear of second-placed finisher Moorestyle of the Daily Star Sunday.

The final day of this year’s competition was a stark contrast to 2021, when Delahunt was pipped by 50p to first place after the Racing Post’s Newmarket correspondent David Milnes benefited from a late drift from Creative Force to take the prize.

“I’ve had a lot of banter with David on Twitter about that, so it’s never been a problem,” said Delahunt, who was successful in the jumps naps competition in 2017-18. “It’s not a case of righting a wrong, it’s just terrific to have won it and to add to the jumps title I won a few years ago.

“We had some really decent-priced winners early in the season, which helped a lot. I think I went top in May, hovered between there and fourth for the next month or so, and then was back on top in July and wasn’t headed after that.”

Alongside his role at The Scottish Sun, where he writes a twice-weekly column on racing and a weekly piece on football, Delahunt works as the raceday presenter at Ayr racecourse and manages much of the course’s social media output.

Given his schedule, Delahunt’s approach to his tipping is all about making effective use of his time to study form before making his submissions.

“My approach doesn’t differ at all between Flat and jumps,” he said. “I do a lot of other things and have to be very organised, so I’m all over the six-day entries, making sure I study them before firming things up at the 48-hour stage.”

Delahunt, who receives £4,000 for winning the competition, was enjoying more celebrations on Sunday at a wedding. However, he was able to receive a positive update on his start to the new jumps naps contest.

“I’ve already had a text from someone saying my first nap of the new season has won, so I hope it continues,” he said. 

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