Shishkin "100 per cent" certain to run at Ascot on Saturday

21 November 2023 , 17:56

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Shishkin, ridden by Nico de Boinville, is unbeaten over fences at Ascot and runs in the 1965 Chase at the Berkshire course on Saturday

SHISHKIN will “100 per cent” make his eagerly awaited return to action in the 1965 Chase at Ascot this Saturday – in preference to Haydock Park’s Betfair Chase.

Nicky Henderson had been mulling over the two options for his one-time star two-miler, successful in the three-mile, one-furlong Aintree Bowl at the Grand National fixture in April and bound for the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.

But the master of Seven Barrows said yesterday: “I think we can say it’s 100 per cent he will go to Ascot - it’s a given.

“You’d be an idiot to go over three miles on heavy ground at Haydock on his first run of the season – two miles and five round Ascot is going to suit him much better.”

Shishkin is unbeaten in two starts at Ascot, having beaten Energumene in a thriller for the Clarence House Chase in January of last year before a 16-length humbling of Saturday’s rival Pic D’Orhy in the Ascot Chase in February.

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Trainer Nicky Henderson expects Shishkin to be suited better by two miles and five furlongs at Ascot than heavy ground over three miles at Haydock (PA)

“We know he loves the track,” added Henderson. “He was spectacular in the Ascot Chase, and when he beat Energumene in the Clarence House.

“This is a prep race for the King George and we want to win it. I think we might put some cheekpieces on him – we’ve schooled him in them and they help keep his mind on it.”

THE £18,000 Highflyer Bloodstock Novices’ Chase at Warwick today was reduced to a walkover after the scratching of Matata left the Dan Skelton-trained Pembroke as the sole participant.

David Yates