Nicky Henderson believes the Aintree Bowl at the Randox Grand National Festival could prove to be the “race of the year” as he prepares to step Shishkin up to three miles for the first time.
The nine-year-old is perhaps best known for his exploits over two miles to date, winning both the 2021 Sporting Life Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham and the 2022 Clarence House Chase at Ascot at that trip.
However, he relished the step up to 2m5f when winning the Grade One Ascot Chase by 16 lengths in February and showed staying qualities when running on to finish second in last month’s Grade One Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival (replay below).
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
Now Henderson is planning to run him in the Aintree Bowl, which looks likely to include several protagonists from last month’s Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, including Bravemansgame (second), Conflated (third) and Protektorat (fifth), as well as the 2021 Gold Cup winner A Plus Tard.
The Seven Barrows trainer said: “The Bowl is going to be some race because everyone’s threatening to run. It won’t be a re-run of the Gold Cup because I can’t see the Gold Cup winner coming (Galopin Des Champs), but I can see the rest of them coming. So he’s going to have join in with them. It could easily be the best race of the year.
“Ascot suggested that 2m5f wasn’t a problem so you’re going three extra furlongs on an easier track. So it shouldn’t technically be a problem.
“If this works then that will definitely tell us where we go next year. You’d be thinking about the King George or even the Betfair Chase to start with. And if the King George goes well then obviously you’ve got to think about the Gold Cup. But again, everything has to go right.”
Hopes high following physiotherapy
Henderson also admitted he and his team have needed to iron out a couple of issues since the Festival, after Shishkin looked awkward at times during the Ryanair Chase last month, jumping left throughout.
He added: “We haven’t found issues that we haven’t corrected and I’m hopeful he won’t do all that again. He shouldn’t. We haven’t done anything dramatic, it was more physio, chiropractors - hopefully we’ve helped him.
“He’s a horse that has in the past had a few issues. We had those issues and we got him right and it all came together at Ascot and then we slightly fluffed our lines at Cheltenham, which was sad.
“But he still finished a remarkably good second, having got it all wrong. So if we have ironed that out then we’ve got every right to think we must have a chance at Aintree.”
Asked if he might be tempted to give Shishkin one more run this season after Aintree, Henderson added: “No because there’s nowhere to go. There’s Punchestown but that’s only two weeks later and Sandown is only two weeks later, so there’s no chance. None of them will run again after Aintree.
“Anything that goes to Aintree will be finished for the season. We’ll be starting with a whole bunch of new horses on May 1.”
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org