Tikkanen raced twice at age two earning a win plus a third-place finish in the Critérium de Saint-Cloud.

In 1994, Tikkanen also competed in Ireland, Italy, and in Germany where he earned his best result with a third-place finish in the Group 3 Fürstenberg-Rennen at Baden-Baden.

Sent to the United States in the fall, under jockey Cash Asmussen, who had ridden the colt in France, Tikkanen won the Grade I Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park.

Tikkanen was up against one of the strongest international fields in the race's history which included the heavy betting favorite Paradise Creek as well as top runners such as Fraise, Hatoof, Hernando, Volochine, Raintrap plus Celtic Arms who had won that year's Prix du Jockey Club and Prix Lupin and had defeated Tikkanen in both races.

Racing in 1995 at age four, Tikkanen made seven starts with his best performance a second-place finish in the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes at England's Newmarket Racecourse.