After placing third at Worcester, a horse was given a 40-day racing suspension and his jockey was reported to the British Horseracing Authority.
Stewards looked into Hillsin’s performance after noticing his run with Dylan Kitts. They observed that the Chris Honour-trained horse “ran strongly” in the stretch “without seeming to be asked for a finishing effort.”
According to Kitts, the horse produced “respiratory sounds” throughout the race on Wednesday. He said that Hillsin had hung to the right while sprinting, which prevented him from going strongly down the stretch.
Hillsin, who had been a 2-1 favourite on Tuesday night and drifted in the betting to start at 11-1, finished one and a quarter lengths behind winner Bensini in the conditional jockeys’ handicap hurdle.
Honour said the rider had generally followed his instructions to take his time, before mounting a late challenge although he did “express concerns over how Hillsin was ridden specifically from jumping the last hurdle”.
