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Hills’ stable star races to fourth straight win at Goodwood

TRAINER Charlie Hills believes stable star Battaash will be in even better shape when he heads to York later this month.

Battaash wrote his name into the history books once more as he won the King George Qatar Stakes at Glorious Goodwood for a fourth successive year.

Ridden by jockey Jim Crowley, the six-year-old finished ahead of Glass Slippers in second to hand Lambourn trainer Hills more success in the race.

“We’re very proud really,” said Hills.

“It takes an honest performance really for a horse to win four consecutive group races and it takes a lot of doing because it’s not done often.

“It is really nice, we’re extremely proud of him like I have said and he has become a true professional.”

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With the work Battaash has done, Hills was confident of his chances before the race.

He said: “We knew the conditions were there to suit him because it was fast ground and it’s a track he loves as well.

“Everything was in his favour and that gave us all a lot of confidence ahead of the race.”

Battaash is now back in training at Wetherdown House and the next target is set to be the Nunthorpe Stakes at York later this month.

Hills said: “He had his first canter this morning [Tuesday] and he came out of the race really well.

“I think that race will bring him on actually because he was a little bit heavy going into Goodwood, so hopefully that should put him spot on for York.”

The trainer had a total of nine runners across the week at Glorious Goodwood and he was happy with how it all went.

“I was really pleased,” he said. “Tilsit was great, you know, because he has stepped up and he’s improving now and he beat two really nice horses, so the future looks bright.

“Amomentofmadness came third, so he has come back to some good level of form and so has Affaak, who was a little bit disappointing at Royal Ascot but came back and ran a huge race when finishing third in a big handicap.”

“Everyone ran well and it was a good week for us.”

Although there were no fans in attendance at Goodwood, as racing continues to happen behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hills feels the television broadcasters have boosted each race.

He said: “When you’re at the races, it feels like the whole place is deserted and it’s not a very nice atmosphere.

“But the television programmes like ITV and Racing UK are doing a fantastic job and you speak to people who have been watching and they seem to enjoy it.”