Graeme Rodway's play of the day at Sandown
Crown Board
3.23 Sandown
The Pequod 20 Years Of Seaworthiness Fortune Stakes (3.23) at Sandown has been won by top-class performers like King Of Change, Mostahdaf and Bayside Boy in recent years, and two of them went on to plunder the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot.
There probably isn’t another superstar like that in this year’s line-up, but there is one with the potential to make up into a Group winner in time and that is Crown Board, who was a bit of an eyecatcher when finishing sixth at Goodwood last month on his first start since December.
Crown Board was facing a stiff task in that conditions race on his sole outing since a wide-margin novice victory at Wolverhampton, but he acquitted himself remarkably well.
The son of Lope De Vega was beaten only four lengths by winner Haunted Dream and shaped like he found the ground too quick for his liking on a sharp, downhill track. Many of his sire’s progeny prefer a bit of dig in the ground and Crown Board might improve for easier going.
That wasn’t a bad run anyway as the subsequent exploits of those who finished ahead of him prove. The third My Prospero has since won a Group 3 at Windsor, fourth Sir Busker a hot handicap at York’s Ebor meeting and fifth Prague finished second in a Group 3 at Haydock.
Crown Board will need to improve for his return here, but this is only the third start of his career and trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam has him in the Champion Stakes at Ascot next month.
Read more:
The Punt Acca: Richard Russell's three horse racing tips from Sandown and Yarmouth
Wednesday's free racing tips: six horses to consider putting in your multiple bets
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