NICKY HENDERSON declared: “We’ve got the old Shishkin back!” as his once-great two-miler reinvented himself with an imperious triumph in the Ascot Chase.
Having made his name at National Hunt racing’s minimum distance with four victories at the highest level, Shishkin suffered his first defeat over fences when pulled up in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham last March.
The flop was excused on account of a rare bone disorder but, when the nine-year-old reappeared with a laboured third in the two-mile Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown Park in December, Henderson set his mind on a change of course.
The master of Seven Barrows resolved to test Shishkin’s stamina over an additional five furlongs, while vets cauterised the gelding’s palate to aid his breathing.
And the plan worked to perfection as Nico de Boinville oozed confidence before sending Shishkin past the pacemaking Pic D’Orhy at the second-last fence en route to a 16-length supremacy, with defending champion Fakir D’Oudairies a further seven lengths back.
“We’ve changed a lot of things as you know and today was the crossroads – has this horse still got a future at the top table?” said Henderson.
“We had this bone problem, then we had a wind issue, we thought, but the most important thing was upping the trip.
“That was the one thing that I was always confident was going to help him – good horses are good horses, and class will out.
“I can’t tell you what a relief it is. You’ve very lucky to get these good horses and, when it does go right and you get them back, it’s extra special.”
De Boinville added: “I said to the guv’nor, ‘We’ll know our fate after the first two.’
“And so it proved. Just going half a stride slower definitely helped him. He was able to jump and travel and latch on to the bridle, which he hasn’t been doing over two miles. He felt a different horse.”
The success saw Shishkin cut to 5-4 favourite with Ladbrokes for the Ryanair Chase, run over two miles and five furlongs at Cheltenham on March 16.
Henderson, who also gave the bay an entry in the Cheltenham Gold Cup over three and a quarter miles – but not in the two-mile Queen Mother Champion Chase – said: “It’s odds on the Ryanair – it’s the sensible one to go for.”
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