Crown The Future

The encouraging detail in Crown The Future's profile is its record over distances between seven furlongs and a mile. Over that range it has won once from six outings — a 17 per cent win rate — which is a notable step up from its overall figures. Most of the horse's racing has come at the bottom rung, Class 6, where it has shown real promise with 1 win from 4 races, a 25 per cent return. This suggests the horse runs best when the opposition is at its weakest, and may struggle if asked to step up in grade.

Recent form has been a grind. Crown The Future has managed just one placing finish in its last six races, a fourth at its most recent start only a day ago. It has now gone nine months without a win, and the horse looks to have hit a sticky patch. Trained by Tony Carroll's Cropthorne yard — a powerful operation with 136 winners this season — Crown The Future may yet find its way back to the winner's enclosure, but right now it needs to rediscover the form that brought it success at Wolverhampton. The window for a second win may be narrowing.