Charlie Hills: Sussex Stakes looks obvious target for Tilsit

It was fantastic to get a Group 2 win last week with Tilsit, the whole team were delighted. We were worried about the rain in the morning and thought about taking him out but we’re certainly glad we didn’t!

He has come out of Ascot well and the obvious move for him next will be the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, but no firm decisions have been made on that yet.

Vindolanda was another highlight for us at the weekend. We were always hopeful she had a big race in her and I was delighted for the owners.

We were very pleased with Garrus’ effort in the July Cup too. He couldn’t quite go with the pace in the early part of the race and just got a bit caught up behind horses, but it was a solid effort. We’ll probably find something in slightly calmer waters for him next.

He and Battaash will go separate ways for the rest of the season by the looks of things. ‘Batty’ put in a nice piece of work earlier this week and it’s all systems go for a fifth King George at Goodwood.

Friday Runners

We’re very excited about Orazio in the Rose Bowl (3:20pm) at Newbury. He won first time up in good style and has come out of that race really well. It’s hard to know quite where you are with them at this early stage of their career, but he’s really pleased us with his progression at home since Windsor and has shown us a great attitude, so we’re hoping for a big run. He’s got a very speedy pedigree, but I think we could look at stepping him up to 7f in time too. Conditions look absolutely perfect and Frankie [Dettori] is booked, so everything is set up nicely.

We’ve got a couple more going to Newbury including Bell Shot (1:00pm), who arrives on the back of a nice race at Leicester first time up. He came out of that race well and is ready for another run now.

Green Team Station (1:35pm) goes to Newbury for his first run so we’ll know a bit more about him after that.

Propagation ran a good solid race last time at Newbury and has been working well at home, so we’ve decided to come back for the mile handicap (4:30pm). We think his mark of 64 is a workable one and he’s probably capable of a bit more.

Mutasaabeq (4:10pm) goes up to Haydock and steps down in grade after running in some very strong Group races, he’s been working really well and we hope we can see something from him in this. Two starts ago he was almost vying for favouritism in the Guineas but the stiff mile at Newmarket was always going to test him and then when arriving at Ascot he just didn’t handle the very soft ground. Hopefully, this race will do the trick for him but there are a couple of good horses to beat in this small field.

On the back of a couple of second placed efforts we had been considering stepping Il Bandito (6:45pm, Newmarket) up to a mile for a while and we’ve taken the plunge here. Ryan Moore was keen to get the ride and we’re hopeful that he will go close.

Saturday Runners

Royal Commando has been in good health following his effort at Royal Ascot, so we’ve decided to run him in the Hackwood Stakes (3:00pm) at Newbury. He was fourth in the Commonwealth Cup last season and I thought he looked like a better, stronger horse this year after winning the Cammidge Trophy. We’ve got a good jockey in Marco Ghiani on board and he must have a solid each-way chance. Clive Cox’s Diligent Harry could prove the one to beat.

Baashir up at Doncaster (7:05pm) looks to be the pick of my other runners on Saturday. He won a good handicap at York two starts back and wasn’t beaten all that far at Newcastle last time out. He’s been in good form at home over the last couple of weeks and looks ready to run another big race.

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