Hitchens looks bound for the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup thanks to a gutsy victory in the Press Family Raceday Stakes at York.
The five-year-old, trained by David Barron, was cut from 20-1 to 16s with the sponsors and to 14-1 with totesport for the big sprint handicap after his battling success.
He stuck on well in the closing stages to win by a neck from Secret Witness, with Misplaced Fortune a length away third and Joseph Henry fourth.
However, Barron believes the 5lb penalty he incurred, bringing his weight to 9st 2lb, will severely hinder his chances of landing the Scottish feature on September 18.
"He's a bit unlucky as he's got a penalty, which means he'll definitely get in at Ayr but it will probably get him beaten," said the trainer.
"I think he'll go there. He wants fast ground. There aren't many options and the ground is going to change. You run where you can and he's in good form."
Brian Ellison is eyeing the totesport.com Cesarewitch for Simonside after the seven-year-old showed plenty of stamina to take the Watt Fences Stakes.
An unlucky third in this race 12 months ago, the 16-1 chance made no mistake this time as he saw off the determined challenge of The Last Alzao by a length.
"He's been in great form in his last few runs. He was just touched off by Lady Eclair, then just got beat at Chester and had an easy win last time," said the North Yorkshire trainer.
"He'll go for the Cesarewitch if we can get in. He'll get a penalty now, but that might not be enough to get him in, so we might have to run again somewhere. He went from here to Ayr last year, so we might do that again."
