Charlie Hills’ Five To Follow for the 2023 Flat season

Cicero’s Gift

[on winning debut at Newbury]

Bit of a surprise because it was very heavy ground, but he got through it nicely. He took a bit of time to come into himself last year but he’s a horse I think will improve a lot from two to three. I’m hoping he’d get a mile, and mile and quarter in time.

I’m hoping we can get over a mile and a quarter so if we get over this weekend in good shape, maybe we could look at something like the French Derby. I think he’s a really smart horse – he’s got his dad’s [Muhaarah] head!

I trained Muhaarah and all of his progeny have great temperaments. They just take a little bit more time than he did. He won his maiden in April as a two year old, so they are taking  bit more time but they show a great attitude.

Divine Libra

I do really like him, he was my first ever winner at Catterick! He got a mark of 85 and at this time of year the maidens can be very competitive – we didn’t want the mark to get higher. It’d be nice to get to, maybe, the Britannia with him. He needs another run now. There’s a nice seven and half furlong race at Chester that’ll suit him well, I think, around there at a good, strong gallop. The timing would be ideal.

He can be a little bit gassy in his races but I’m hoping that, with runs, he’ll mature nicely. We need to get him settled in amongst a few horses. He’s a horse that I think will improve as the season goes on and, if he gets a mile, he’d be a very nice horse.

Maghlaak

I hope he could be special. He’s just taken a long time to mature – we couldn’t run him as a two-year-old. He just a few niggly problems and he’s just a horse who’s taken his time, really. He won his last two starts last year. I think he’ll get a trip, he might get a mile and a half, which is really amazing. His work’s been nice and I think he’s off quite a nice mark and he’ll hopefully go through the ranks.

The progeny of Muhaarah are going over a lot further than he did. He’s starting to do really well with a lot of winners last year. A lot of people are saying now he’s not got sprinting type of progeny. They are getting a trip.

We’ve got to go through the steps with Maghlaak. He was going to run last week but unfortunately had a temperature so we just had to put the brakes on him a little bit. There’s a race coming up at the weekend over a mile and quarter so we’ll run him in that. It’s up to handicap mark of 90. Then, who knows. He’s a good, strong galloper and could be a Black Type horse eventually.

Rabaah

I thought, this time last year, that he was going to be my best two-year-old. He was showing good early speed, but unfortunately went wrong after his first race, so we’ve just taken out time. I was keen to get a couple of good runs into him over the winter, both of which he has won, just to gain some experience before we go into better class races. I think he’s a pretty smart horse and I’d like to aim for the Commonwealth Cup with him. It’s just how we get there, really. We might now look to Newbury for the Carnarvon Stakes. We like this horse and hopefully he can be well up for that.

He’s won two races on the All-Weather so we don’t know what sort of ground he’s going to like. He has got a rounded action, so a bit of cut might suit him. We’ll see. He’s got a lot of speed and he’s a horse we’re still learning about.

Zabriskie Point

The second or third week in May should suit this horse well for a first run. You can’t tell if you’ve got a Royal Ascot two-year-old until they hit the racecourse, really, but he’s got a brilliant attitude and great speed. Everyone who rides him really likes him.

I’d like to think he’ll get six furlongs. He’s not all about speed. We’ll probably start him off on five and step him up to six after that. He’s got a good, fast action and he knows his job.