Pic D'Orhy wins the Nirvana Spa 1965 Chase at Ascot as Shishkin refused to race

Shishkin's seasonal reappearance was eagerly anticipated with Nicky Henderson applying cheekpieces to the star performer ahead of an intended tilt at the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.

However, it wasn't to be as Shishkin, the 8/13 favourite, whipped round as the tapes went up and stood stock still, refusing to set off with the other three runners. That left 5/2 second favourite Pic D'Orhy with a seemingly straightforward task against two rivals and so it proved as the eight-year-old ran out an easy winner under Harry Cobden to record a twelfth career success.

Straw Fan Jack did lay down a strong challenge turning for home and it momentarily looked as though Pic D'Orhy would have a race on his hands but he responded well to Cobden's urgings and soon brushed off his rival, going on to win by 16 lengths.

Trainer Paul Nicholls and Cobden were completing a quickfire double - having landed the previous race with the promising novice hurdler Farnoge - and went on to complete a perfect four-timer.

Sky Bet voided Shishkin as a selection in all bets - including multiples - while Paddy Power and Betfair Sportsbook gave punters their money back as a free bet, singles only with no maximum.

Cobden told ITV Racing: "It's always easier when the favourite doesn't jump off isn't it? It was unfortunate for connections that he (Shishkin) didn't jump off but our lad, I'm not sure he was at his best today.

"He possibly didn't jump that well and he didn't really travel early; I can't specifically give you a reason, he felt good beforehand. When I turned in I thought 'we've got Straw Fan Jack upsides us and this might get ugly' so I tried to get the race put to bed before the second last just so I wasn't relying on two big jumps.

"Maybe the ground is possibly a little bit quick for him but he's always wanted that ground, in my opinion, in the past so I can't see how you can blame that but at the end of the day he's got the job done.

“I thought he would canter round and beat the other two on the bridle and not have a race. There’s loads of improvement in him.”

Concern for King George start

"What can I say?" Henderson asked rhetorically.

"The pity is there's a three mile hurdle at Newbury on Friday and I'd run him in that but that closed this morning.

"Did I know that was going to happen? I don't know why he's done that today. It's one of those starts where you're going away from home where the odd horse will do it.

"My biggest concern would probably be the King George start is exactly the same the first thing you do is go straight away. How can I guarantee he won't do the same thing. I guarantee if I took him down to the two mile start he'd fly up and be in the lead.

“The alternatives, I will have to look, and if there is an open handicap I wouldn’t mind running him, but as you know the programme doesn’t allow these horses to run very often. If only it closed tomorrow Newbury would be brilliant.

“I don’t know where we can go and I have to find where there is an open handicap. I know there are no conditions races left and the Peterborough is too close (to the King George). I don’t know what to do.

“He jumps off every day, every day, every day. He’s a quirky character at times, but he will always jump off. He will never turn his head, never. He was in a mood today and he wasn’t for moving. He would still be there now.

“I can’t read his head and I don’t have the whole programme book in my head, but I can tell you there are no conditions races left.

“My biggest concern though is, if this was ever to be repeated, then Kempton isn’t the place to try it. That’s my biggest worry. I could say sorry he doesn’t need a prep, he will go have a racecourse gallop and he will be ready for Kempton, but that start at Kempton does worry me.”

No one to blame

"I can't blame the small field and I can't blame the sun, I can't blame anybody!" he continued.

On Thursday the BHA announced that their starters 'will no longer carry the hunting crop during jump starts' with the statement saying 'the hunting crop was previously used very sparingly, and the Starts Review Working Group felt there was no longer a need to continue to carry it during the starting process'.

Henderson was asked in an interview on Sky Sports Racing whether he felt this would have made a difference to Shishkin but the Lambourn handler did not seem convinced, saying: "A lot of times I rather think, you're walking a horse in at the back and the last thing you want is a crack.

"They never hit the horse, never, ever, ever. It's just somebody walking behind who gives it a crack and it snaps and it puts their mind in the shop and they know somebody is there behind them.

"If you're trying to get a horse to relax and they do that, it can have the opposite effect. I would say having somebody walking behind them with a little persuasion - don't touch the horse - almost certainly I'd have somebody at the start who would lead him in, definitely. That's the first thing we would definitely have somebody lead him in if we had any suspicion that the horse might turn his head then we would always have one of our travelling team or one of our assistants would be down at the start which suggests the King George is out of starting stalls, he'd be fine!"

Henderson did go on to reveal that Shishkin has shown quirks at the start of a season before.

"He needs treating carefully," he said.

"To be fair, early in the year he's always the same, he gets quite quirky in his early bits of preparation and actually he went over to Zara Tindall's who did a month's good dressage work with him and it builds him up, it did him the world of good.

"He came back in with a great mindset and everything was straightforward; perhaps that's what we've got to do a bit more of. He's never turned his head at a gallop in his life, they canter virtually every day, and he would never, ever say no. It's bombed us all out for a bit I fear.

"We've got a conundrum in front of us. We've got a very good horse, he's in such good form, it breaks your heart to be honest with you. We've got to try and unravel the mystery. He can be a bit cranky but very, very seldom."

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