Tilsit team considering options after narrow Group One defeat

Ashley Iveson
June 1, 2021 12:38 pm

Colt was beaten just a head in the Prix d’Ispahan.

Further top-level assignments await Tilsit following his narrow reverse in the Prix d’Ispahan on Sunday.

The Charlie Hills-trained four-year-old won the Group Three Thoroughbred Stakes at Glorious Goodwood last summer, before rounding off his 2020 campaign by finishing fourth behind 2000 Guineas hero Kameko in Newmarket’s Joel Stakes.

He was not disgraced in finishing fifth in the Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia on his return to action in February, but raised his game to a new level when beaten just a head by Skalleti on his Group One debut at ParisLongchamp.

Skalleti is finally a Group 1 winner! @EcurieReynier @paris_longchamp 🙌 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/SZNjxmmkVd
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 30, 2021

Hills said: “We’ve always liked him very much and you’ve got to say that was a career-best performance.

“Obviously we’re delighted with him. It’s just a shame we didn’t get the result really – he had his head in front just before the line and just after the line, so it was just on the bob really.”

Tilsit holds big-race entries in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot and the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, with Hills keen to discuss options with the owners before committing to future targets.

“The horse got back last night. We’ll obviously speak to the Juddmonte team and the (Abdullah) family,” the trainer added.

“The d’Ispahan is nine furlongs, but if it was a mile he would have won, so we could look at possible mile races in the future.”