Nico de Boinville and Nicky Henderson with Shishkin

Betfair Denman Chase considered ideal Cheltenham Gold Cup prep for Shishkin

By Matt Brocklebank

16:19 · WED February 07, 2024

Nicky Henderson reports Shishkin to be in rude health as the 10-year-old bids to open his account for the season in Saturday's Grade 2 Betfair Denman Chase.

The master of Seven Barrows sees the three-mile contest as the ideal stepping-stone for his star 10-year-old ahead of a potential crack at Cheltenham Gold Cup glory in March.

Shishkin's campaign to this point has been anything but plain-sailing, the son of Sholokhov refusing to race when planting himself at the start of the Nirvana Spa 1965 Chase at Ascot in November before an unfortunate incident which saw him unseat Nico De Boinville after touching down two-out in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

The Kempton run came a month after Ascot after a trip to Newcastle for the Rehearsal Handicap Chase had to be aborted due to the meeting's abandonment, and Henderson is just desperate to get Shishkin back on track with a victory at his local track.

Speaking on a Wednesday press call staged by Newbury Racecourse and sponsors Betfair, he reflected on the horse's year, saying: "The odd thing about him is when he's fresh, during the build-up period at the beginning of the season, he can be a bit of a plonker to be honest with you, and this year we decided, during that first month when he can have a bit of a mind of his own, we went down to Zara Tindall's and did a month's worth of dressage and groundwork with her.

"She's great and I think they love him, he behaved very well and he came back with six weeks' work under his belt ready to start and once you've got a race under his belt he's very good, he's under control again, as he can be a bit stroppy.

"But he only really does it at the very beginning and now where we are, with a race under his belt, he's no problem at all. So I can't say I see no problems, you're always going to have it in the back of your mind that he can do it, but he was very good at Kempton at what would be quite a tricky start for him as they go away from the stables and away from the paddock. He was good there.

"Nico rode him out on Saturday morning and schooled him this morning. He jumped five fences and there's no point in him jumping any more.

"I do think he's in good form and he was very sharp this morning, Nico feels he's in terrific form so we're happy on that score. It will be nice to get another run under his belt, Kempton was his first race of this season and that's what made it a strong performance. Win, lose or draw - he might well have won and I hope to think he would - it was a very good run for his first run of the season as I was worried having not had the Ascot race.

"He would need another run if he's going to run in the Gold Cup which I hope he's going to do. He's pretty versatile when it comes to ground, you would not want him in very, very bad ground. I don't think we've got much option, we have to go here as there's nowhere else to go and he needs a race."

Looking ahead to Cheltenham and a Gold Cup bid, Henderson admits that stamina for the three and a quarter-mile trip is not yet guaranteed.

He said: "That's going to be guesswork as we haven't been that far. He's not in the Ryanair and we think he's going to stay, I'd be pretty confident about that.

"If he gets home at Newbury and does that well, then you'll have to go.

Although Galopin Des Champs looked very good at the weekend. He’s a proven Gold Cup winner so he has to be very good. I think he is a very clinical, professional horse, he just gets out there and gets the job done.

“He doesn’t strike me as a very flashy horse in his race or anything, but he’s always there isn’t he. He’s a tough horse, too.

“I thought he was very, very good and you could find little fault in what he has done. He’s the horse we all have to beat and I’m just thinking and hoping he’s not unbeatable.”

Shishkin's four potential rivals in Saturday's event are the Dan Skelton-trained Protektorat, who was runner-up to L'Homme Presse at Lingfield recently, Does He Know for Kim Bailey, Paul Nicholls' Hitman and Sam Brown from the yard of Anthony Honeyball.

Shishkin heads the sponsors' antepost market at 8/15, with Protektorat proving popular, into 9/4 from 11/4.

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