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Parnham weighs up his best choice

Neville Parnham is considering bypassing Saturday week's Karrakatta Plate with Crown Choice, despite the colt's courageous second-up win in yesterday's Westspeed Plate (1200m) at Ascot.

Crown Choice, backed from $10.60 to $5.60 on the tote, foiled a plunge on Versed Remedy ($5.60 into $3.10) by a long head.

Oradol, a drifting $3.20 favourite, finished third.

Crown Choice was one of the Supremacy Stakes (1100m) fancies, but was found to have a hoof abscess following his sixth to Jezpark on March 1.

Parnham paid $170,000 for the Not A Single Doubt youngster at the 2013 Sydney Inglis Classic Sale.

The leading trainer has a strong hand in the Karrakatta, with Rommel, Star Glitter and Vital Art inside the top 10 in the order of entry for the $500,000 Group 2 feature.

"I'm more inclined to go into the WA Sires because I think he will be better suited at 1400m," Parnham said.

"He is a real nice horse and I rated him in my top three two-year-olds, early in the season.

"Things didn't go his way and I don't want to rush him into the Karrakatta.

"At the end of the day it is up to the owner, Santo Guagliardo, but he is going to have Rommel in the race."

Meanwhile, Parnham will be looking for a new hoop for one of his Karrakatta contenders after his son, Brad, was suspended for 13 days at Ascot yesterday for careless riding aboard All Primed Up in the last race.

The suspension starts at midnight on Saturday, dashing any hopes Parnham had of riding on March 29, featuring the Karrakatta, $250,000 WA Oaks, $100,000 Melvista Stakes and $100,000 Matchmaker Classic.