Ben Linfoot reflects on a stunning Clarence House Chase at Ascot as Shishkin beat Energumene in a classic, before wondering how the tables could be turned at Cheltenham.
As the shiny Longines clock in the Ascot parade ring ticked 3.36pm everyone in racing held their breath at the prospect of a possible race for the ages. We got exactly that.
This was shiver down the spine stuff, whether you had a financial interest in the Clarence House Chase or not, as two steeplechasing heavyweights put their unbeaten records over fences on the line.
Four minutes and 16 seconds later only one of them had that unbeaten record intact, SHISHKIN, after an almighty race, one already comfortably sitting alongside the great head-to-heads jumps racing has delivered down the years; the likes of Arkle v Mill House, Desert Orchid v Panto Prince and Denman v Kauto Star.
For much of the contest the answer being Shishkin looked unlikely. He wasn’t faultless, he pecked on landing at one fence down the back, and he just looked to have been taken out of his comfort zone out wide as Paul Townend and Energumene ploughed along the rail relentlessly out in front.
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At the top of the straight Townend sat quieter than Nico de Boinville. Shishkin traded at 7.8 in the run on Betfair. Energumene was travelling the better and Shishkin was being vigorously ridden along.
But crucially, despite all this, Energumene hadn’t put significant daylight between himself and Shishkin at this point. He rolled on out in front and a super leap at the last would’ve sealed it against most horses, but Shishkin isn’t most horses.
He found more, a power-packed finish, one reminiscent of Altior – that previous two-mile chasing great from Seven Barrows. Sprinter Sacre, Altior, Shishkin – Nicky Henderson has found another one, alright.
To come from two lengths down to beat a high-class horse like Energumene by half that margin was something special.
It didn’t only light up a gloomy Ascot Saturday, it lit up the season, the roar from a raucous reception prompting De Boinville – Gold Cup and Sprinter Sacre Champion Chase comeback-winning jockey De Boinville – to declare it the best he’s ever had on a racecourse.
How can Energumene turn the tables?
Today was Shishkin’s day, but it takes two horses to make a great horse race and connections of ENERGUMENE won’t be too downbeat after a terrific run in defeat. The unbeaten record over fences is gone, but Tony Bloom and Willie Mullins have a proper two-mile chaser on their hands.
Like all great head-to-heads, the thirst for a rematch is real and everyone involved will be looking forward to the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, the perfect setting for round two.
The betting reaction was firmly in support of Shishkin as you would expect. After all, plenty of things went against him at Ascot and he still won, while there’s a reasonable expectation he’ll be even better back on a left-handed track with a stiff finish.
We have a best of 8/11 Shishkin and he’s as short as 8/15, with Energumene eased out to 3/1. Perhaps Energumene had plenty in his favour at Ascot – the right-handed track, the soft ground, the lead – but he went down fighting after jumping superbly and he remains a huge player in this division.
Mullins admitted afterwards that it will be tough to reverse form with Shishkin at Cheltenham and it will be, but it could happen.
He has plenty in common with his stable’s former dual winner of the Clarence House, Un De Sceaux, being a bold-jumping son of Denham Red. But he’s not as headstrong as that horse and it doesn’t look like he has to lead, he relaxes well, so perhaps a change of tactics will be in the pipeline come March.
Better ground could be a positive for him, too, although you can of course say the same about Shishkin, while the bare two-mile trip for him at Cheltenham – remember the Clarence House is over 2m1f – might help him turn the tables.
His best hope will be to take advantage of Shishkin’s flat spot. He couldn’t at Ascot, but he might at Cheltenham and he’ll have his supporters despite what looks a mighty task on his hands.
In a statistical quirk Mullins has yet to have an odds-against winner over jumps at Ascot. Energumene, sent off 5/4, traded at 1.13 in-running, but the stat remains, with Un De Sceaux (twice), Annie Power, Faugheen, Vautour and Vroum Vroum Mag his roll call of Ascot winners, all at odds-on.
A more frustrating statistic for Mullins will be the omission of the Champion Chase from his CV. Despite having some tremendous two-mile chasers down the years, like Un De Sceaux and Douvan, it remains the only championship trophy from Cheltenham to be missing from his Closutton mantlepiece.
The odds on Energumene filling the void have lengthened, but he still might be the one. Come on round two, let’s be having you.