Shishkin spearheads super six for Ascot Chase
Shishkin will face five rivals as he steps up in trip for Saturday’s Betfair Ascot Chase.
Nicky Henderson’s nine-year-old was unbeaten in his first seven starts over fences, winning up to two and a quarter miles, but he was pulled up in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at last year’s Cheltenham Festival and trailed home a distant third behind Edwardstone on his Tingle Creek return in December.
That performance has prompted Henderson to move up to two miles and five furlongs this weekend, with Shishkin a three-mile point-to-point winner in his younger days.
Shishkin faces a stern test on his first start since undergoing wind surgery, with last year’s winner Fakir D’oudairies defending his title for Joseph O’Brien after returning to winning form in a Thurles Grade Two last time out.
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls fields Pic D’Orhy, who has won each of his three starts this term, including Grade Twos at Huntingdon and Kempton.
Nicholls said of the gelding: “The big difference with him is he’s a big horse and he’s just matured at last. He’s twice the horse he was last season as a model, he’s well and strong and he keeps improving.
“He wasn’t really jumping that well, the first season he had a couple of falls so he was a novice for a second season.
“Last year at Newbury in the Ladbrokes meeting, he was going to absolutely bolt in in the Grade Two novice chase and he took a fairly heavy fall at the first in the straight.
“I think that shook him a bit and woke him up, he’s been very careful and good after that.
“This season his jumping has been fantastic, he’s a Betfair Hurdle winner so he’s always had plenty of ability.
“He’s a little bit like Bravemansgame, massive horses that just take all this time to reach full maturity. He’s probably the finished article now and hopefully he can keep improving.”
Of the dangers to his runner, Nicholls, speaking on a call organised by Great British Racing, added: “Fakir D’oudairies is a good horse, he won the race last year.
“I think it’s quite an open race, Millers Bank – it wouldn’t surprise me if he ran a good, solid race. He was staying on strongly at Huntingdon and he likes that better ground, I think. It’s a good looking race.
“If we’re going to compete in a Grade One in the Ryanair and then Aintree, we need to be right in the mix.
“He’s in form, with Shishkin there are questions about him. He hasn’t been in form, at Cheltenham he had a problem and he must have been disappointed with him in the Tingle Creek.
“They’d be hopeful of a good run, two and a half is going to suit them better than two nowadays, that’s what Nicky is thinking, and if he’s in form he’ll go well but he’s got questions to answer.
“I’ve got a feeling Pic D’Orhy will run very well, the ground is right for him, he’s in good shape. That’s what you want.
“He loves bowling along and if someone wants to go faster than him, it’s not a problem. You can take advantage if you jump well and you’re in the driving seat, they’ve got to come past you. I think it’s a really thrilling race, we’re looking forward to it.”
First Flow, winner of the race in 2021, represents Kim Bailey with Aye Right for Harriet Graham and Gary Rutherford, plus Alex Hales’ Millers Bank completing the line-up.
Donald McCain’s Minella Drama was the only horse not declared.
