Cheltenham Festival 2021: Key weekend runners including Sporting Life Arkle favourite Shishkin

ONES TO WATCH

SHISHKIN - 1.30 Doncaster, Saturday

No novice chaser this season has achieved a higher Timeform rating than Shishkin, whose figure of 165P would be good enough to win most editions of the Sporting Life Arkle, while the Timeform large ‘P' indicates that he is likely to prove capable of much better under the right circumstances.

Those circumstances are unlikely to materialise at Doncaster on Saturday as Shishkin is simply in a different league to his four rivals and won't have to run anywhere near his best to register a straightforward success – as odds of 4/1-on imply.

Shishkin has at least a stone in hand on Timeform ratings for Saturday's contest, so we are unlikely to learn anything new about a horse who has already achieved plenty on the clock and proved he can jump well, but it offers the opportunity to gain some more experience before an exciting showdown with Energumene at the Cheltenham Festival. (Tony McFadden, Timeform)

MARIE'S ROCK - 2.05 Doncaster, Saturday

Marie's Rock looked above-average when winning a bumper on debut at Ffos Las and she bolstered that impression with two emphatic wins over hurdles last season, including at listed level at Taunton. That eight-length success over Midnights' Gift propelled Marie's Rock towards the head of the betting for the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, and she would have held leading claims in that contest but for an untimely setback that curtailed her campaign.

Marie's Rock was sent off 2/1 favourite to make a winning reappearance at Newbury in the Gerry Feilden – a race trainer Nicky Henderson won the previous year with subsequent Champion Hurdle winner Epatante – but her inexperience was evident and jumping lapses prevented her from making an impact.

That was disappointing, but it was her first misstep and, mindful of what a positive impression she had previously created, she looks well worth another chance. Marie's Rock is bred to stay well, so it's surprising that she has not been handed an entry in the Mares' Hurdle, but it's not impossible that she could enter the Champion Hurdle picture.

She is rated a stone inferior to stablemate Epatante, but she's only had three starts over hurdles and hasn't shown the limit of her ability, identifying her as one of the more plausible left-field options in a division lacking strength in depth. She will need to win well on Saturday to justify her place in the line-up, though. (Tony McFadden, Timeform)

EMIR SACREE - 2.40 Doncaster

Emir Sacree, who rates a fascinating contender on his return to action after winning an Ascot handicap on his British debut in mid-December.

He received an entry for the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival earlier this week and Saturday will no doubt act as a fair gauge as to where he sits in the Seven Barrows pecking order.

It could be a return to handicaps for the relatively experienced son of Network come Festival time, though victory on Town Moor in Grade Two company will surely encourage connections into having a shot at the big one. (Matt Brocklebank)

ONE FOR THE TEAM - 3.15 Doncaster

Nick Williams has his relatively small but select string in good order at present and One For The Team went into a few notebooks with his creditable display in the Grade One Kauto Star Novices' Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

The seven-year-old's Newbury second behind Next Destination was arguably even more meritorious, especially given what the winner went on to do at Warwick when giving weight and a beating to Fiddlerontheroof.

Williams is a canny operator when it comes to his novice chasers and the switch to handicap company in the Sky Bet Chase looks significant, even more so when you consider he may need to rise the ratings a bit if the trainer has pretensions of contesting something like the Ultima Handicap Chase at Cheltenham.

One For The Team bolted up in a handicap hurdle from a mark of 130 early last February so a chase perch of 141 doesn't look entirely beyond him and he does look a happier horse on a flat, left-handed track. (Matt Brocklebank)

PENCILFULLOFLEAD – 2.15 Naas, Sunday

Pencilfulloflead's second to Colreevy at Limerick over Christmas looked a good run at the time. It was probably an inadequate trip for him over 2m3f and a bit and he only went down by half a length after a fierce battle, so connections will have been delighted to see the Willie Mullins-trained mare bolster the form with an emphatic win in a Grade 2 Mares’ Novice Chase at Thurles on Wednesday.

Previous to his Limerick reverse Pencilfulloflead had seen off Latest Exhibition by seven lengths – again, not bad form – and that Grade 2 win sees him carry a penalty on Sunday, so his task won’t be easy in the Grade 3 Naas Racecourse Business Club Novice Chase. He is now unleashed over a trip of 3m1f, however, stamina looks his forte and here he could enhance his claims for either the race formerly known as the RSA Chase or the race formerly known as the four-miler. (Ben Linfoot)

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