Paul Nicholls believes Shishkin will be “unbeatable” in the Ryanair Chase if he can replicate his recent Ascot Chase performance.
The nine-year-old made a successful switch up to two miles and five furlongs in Berkshire, inflicting a 16-length defeat on the Nicholls-trained Pic D’Orhy as he returned from a couple of disappointing runs in style.
Nicholls may take on Nicky Henderson’s charge with Hitman at next month’s Cheltenham Festival and while the Ditcheat trainer expects his runner to appreciate a drop back in trip, he concedes he would be up against it with an on-form Shishkin.
Hitman could be up against it with Shishkin (David Davies/PA)
“He blatantly didn’t get three miles in the Denman Chase and middle distances suit him well,” Nicholls said of Hitman.
“He started the season really well and then went to Kempton and didn’t jump particularly well, but he ran much better at Newbury in a really fast-run race.
“He’s the sort of horse who could run really well in the Ryanair. He’s always there or thereabouts and he could easily run into a place.
“If Shishkin performs like he did the other day, he’ll be unbeatable. He was awesome at Ascot. I thought Pic D’Orhy would win and Shishkin was brilliant.
“Pic D’Orhy probably ran a career-best if you look at the third and the fourth. If Shishkin is in the same form everything else will be running for places I think.”
Greaneteen is a Champion Chase outsider (Nigel French/PA)
Greaneteen finished six lengths in front of Shishkin in the Tingle Creek back in December, when neither could get near the victorious Edwardstone, but Nicholls believes his three-times Grade One victor is perhaps over-priced for the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase.
“He’s been a grand horse, winning all those races at Sandown and two Haldon Gold Cups,” he said.
“He ran at Newbury the other day and was a red-hot favourite and got beat, so he’s gone from 12-1 to 33-1 for the Champion Chase, but actually two years ago he ran exactly the same race at Newbury and he ended up just getting beat at Cheltenham.
“The ground was too fast for him at Newbury, he blew up and then stayed on strongly.
“It would be no surprise to me if he ran really well and finished third or fourth. I’m not saying he’s going to win a Champion Chase, but he’s well capable of running a really tidy race.”
Stage Star at Ditcheat on Monday morning (Adam Davy/PA)
Stage Star has multiple options at this stage, with both the three-mile Brown Advisory and two-and-half-mile Turners Novices’ Chase on the radar.
He won over the shorter trip at Cheltenham on Trials Day last month and conditions will be key to his target.
Nicholls said: “He’s been a grand horse. He was a Grade One winner over hurdles, he won first time up over fences at Warwick and I just think he found the ground very fast at Newbury next time.
“We went to Plumpton after Christmas and he won well and then he went to Cheltenham and won on Trials Day.
“He’s in the Turners and the Brown Advisory. We’ll just see what the ground does, but he’ll run in one or the other. If the ground was on the good side I wouldn’t be afraid to go for the Brown Advisory as I think he’ll get three miles, but if it’s on the slower side we can run in the Turners.
“You can run really well and finish third or fourth at Cheltenham, but he’s a progressive horse.”
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Hitman has the opportunity to put his King George disappointment behind him when he lines up in the Betfair Denman Chase at Newbury.
A head second in the Old Roan at Aintree on his seasonal bow, the Paul Nicholls-trained seven-year-old went on to record an impressive 11-length success in a Haydock graduation chase before pulling up in Kempton’s Christmas showpiece on Boxing Day.
However, the champion trainer is willing to put a line through that performance and is backing the Falco gelding to bounce back in a Grade Two contest he holds a fine record in.
Hitman during a visit to Paul Nicholls’ Manor Farm Stables (David Davies/PA)
The Ditcheat handler has won this twice in the last four years, with both Clan Des Obeaux (2019) and Secret Investor (2021) finding the scoresheet, while the likes of Kauto Star, Denman himself and Silviniaco Conti also feature on the roll of honour for Nicholls.
“It’s been a very good race for us and has always been a very good race on the way to Cheltenham,” said Nicholls.
“Kauto Star won it, Denman won it, all sorts of good horses have won it. Secret Investor beat Clan Des Obeaux one year and Clan went on to win at Aintree.
“It’s a good race, I love winning it, obviously with it being named after Denman.
“Hitman was very fancied in the King George on soft ground. He got a little bit behind then made a really bad mistake which took him out of the race, you can basically put a line through that run.
“He loves good ground, he won at Newbury on decent ground two years ago.
“He’s in good shape and it will tell us if he gets the three miles well, then we can run him over a trip and if he doesn’t then he could end up in the Ryanair.
“He’s very very well and I think he’s got a great chance.”
The Tizzard family are another operation with a fine record in this contest thanks to three-time winner Native River, while Eldorado Allen added to the Venn Farm tally 12 months ago.
That was the nine-year-old’s first try over three miles, but the defending champion has matured into the distance this season to such an extent that Joe Tizzard has reached for a pair of cheekpieces.
Eldorado Allen ridden by jockey Brendan Powell goes on to win the Betfair Denman Chase during Betfair Super Saturday at Newbury in 2022 (Steven Paston/PA)
“He rarely runs a bad race,” his pilot Brendan Powell told TalkSPORT 2. “I believe he is highest rated on Saturday and after the King George at Kempton, myself and Joe just came to the conclusion to try a bit of headgear on him.
“He’s declared in cheekpieces on Saturday, just to probably make my life a little easier. Last season he was winning a Haldon Gold Cup over two miles, but he made hard work of the King George from a long way out at Kempton and you definitely can’t question his stamina now.
“When we ran in the Denman last year over three miles on good ground I wasn’t convinced he was an out-and-out stayer, but the way he ran at Haydock (Betfair Chase) in soft ground behind Protektorat, it seems stamina is his thing now, so a pair of cheekpieces should hopefully make my life easier and it would be nice to see him get his head in front again.”
Kim Bailey’s Does He Know has seen his Cheltenham victory in November franked since and his handler believes the eight-year-old deserves his chance to test himself in graded company.
He said: “It was a tough race for him (at Cheltenham), it took a lot out of him and we’ve given him plenty of time to come back.
“The plan was to either come here or go to Haydock next weekend and when we looked at the declarations, we felt he was better off running off almost level weights than being the top-end of the handicap, so he deserves his chance to run in a graded race like this and good luck to him.
“Out of this and the Cotswold Chase, this is always the weaker of the two because it falls closer to Cheltenham. I just hope he behaves because the last time he went to Newbury he behaved very badly – he went through the wing in the Challow Hurdle if you remember.
“He seems in a good place and we’re really happy with him, now it’s simply a question of how he behaves.”
Kalashnikov ridden by jockey Jack Quinlan on the way to winning the Devenish Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree in 2019 (Nigel French/PA)
Wetherby’s Rowland Meyrick form will be put to the test when the third Fanion D’Estruval represents Venetia Williams at a venue he has tasted success at in the past, while Kalashnikov faded into sixth on that occasion when making his comeback from a long absence, but Amy Murphy’s stable stalwart is another with some of his finest hours in Berkshire.
“He’s in good form,” said Murphy. “It looks a very good race on paper, but we know he likes Newbury so we thought we would take our chance.
“You would have to think that Newbury is one of his favourite tracks, so hopefully it is worth us being there.
“He had a good blow at Wetherby, so we very much hope he has taken a step forward from that.”
Anthony Honeyball’s Sam Brown and the Philip Hobbs-trained Zanza complete the seven-strong field.
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Paul Nicholls saddles a third of the field as he bids to add a remarkable 13th Ladbrokes King George VI Chase to his trophy cabinet.
The Ditcheat handler’s name is the one constant on the roll of honour for Kempton’s Boxing Day feature in modern history and the race’s most successful trainer – who has won three of the last four and saddled the second, third and fourth when drawing a blank 12 months ago – is well represented at the top of the market once again.
Headlining the Nicholls trio is Bravemansgame, who has been earmarked as a King George winner since his novice hurdling days and now gets the chance to fulfil his trainer’s prophecy following a winning return in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby.
“He looks in good shape and we have had a great preparation with him,” said the 13-times champion trainer.
“He went to the Charlie Hall and he was probably ready enough to run as he did, but he wasn’t fully wound up. He travelled well and jumped well and won nicely.
“We have done a lot with him since then as we want him ready for his life on Monday. He has had a great preparation and looks fantastic. He has got plenty of condition on him.
“He used to go a little bit light on us after Christmas, but we found out he had problems with ulcers and we are on top of that now. We have changed the feed this season which has been big plus all across the board and the horses look great.”
Joining Bravemansgame on the teamsheet is Hitman, who has always threatened to make his mark in Grade One competition and threw his hat into the ring with a bloodless victory at Haydock in November.
Trainer Paul Nicholls with his King George candidates (left to right) Frodon, Bravemansgame and Hitman during a visit to Manor Farm Stables (David Davies/PA)
Nicholls continued: “Hitman is rated 160 which is only 4lb behind Bravemansgame, which isn’t a long way. He has been placed in a Tingle Creek, Haldon Gold Cup and other Grade One races and he is only six years old.
“Clan (Des Obeaux) won the King George for the first time as a six-year-old rated 160, so he is on the right sort of lines. He was always going to improve as he got stronger and better and he has achieved a lot for a young horse.
“He ran well in the Old Roan the first time when needing the run. He ran very well at Haydock the last day, just having a canter round but he jumped brilliantly. I think three miles will bring plenty of improvement in him. You can see he is a fine, big chaser.”
It is a former King George hero that completes the Ditcheat collective, with 2020’s shock 20-1 champion Frodon out to cause another surprise in the hands of ever-willing pilot Bryony Frost – who has recovered from injury in time to continue her long association with the popular 10-year-old.
Bryony Frost riding Frodon (left) clear the last to win the King George VI Chase at Kempton in 2020 (Alan Crowhurst/PA)
“He will have had a nice gap between Haydock Park and Kempton and he never stops surprising you at his age,” Nicholls added.
“Whether he has got the legs of the younger horses is debatable, but he will be there or thereabouts and he will give Bryony a fantastic ride.
“He has been there done it and got the t-shirt and he is certainly as good now as he has ever been. It would want to be a near career-best for him to win, but you never know with him.
“You have to respect him as he is a previous winner of the race, but he has got plenty to do against those younger lads as he is 10 going on 11. But look at Kauto Star – he won it as an 11-year-old.”
Disputing favouritism with Bravemansgame is Venetia Williams’ Cheltenham Festival scorer L’Homme Presse, who tuned up for this with a weight-carrying masterclass in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle.
However, Williams, who won the race in 1998 with Teeton Mill, is doubly represented in the Grade One contest with course-and-distance scorer and Cheltenham Gold Cup fifth Royale Pagaille, who is set to make his seasonal bow at the Sunbury track.
“We hoped to have him out a lot earlier than this, but he had a small setback with his wither in the middle of November so he has missed a bit of time,” said Joe Chambers, racing manager to owner Rich Ricci.
“It was either here, the Welsh National or the Rowland Meyrick and as much as we are very happy to run in a Welsh National and in handicaps off top-weight, we didn’t think three-miles-six first time up was going to be the right thing to do with a view to the rest of the season.
Royale Pagaille, here running in the Denman Chase at Newbury, has been handed an assignment in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day (Steven Paston/PA)
“Then when you look at the King George versus the Rowland Meyrick, he is a course-and-distance winner and the prize-money goes a bit deeper, so we thought we may as well go to familiar territory and get the season started there.
“The rain is coming which will suit him, but you would love to be going into this year’s King George with conditions the way they are and the field the way it is with a run behind you, but unfortunately we don’t.
“You can’t win unless you have a ticket for the game. Hopefully he can put his best foot forward and then we can crack on from the race for the rest of the year.”
Envoi Allen is the sole Irish representative in the field as he looks to follow up Tornado Flyer’s victory for the raiders last year.
“I think it was a proper Grade One performance last time. It was a good race and it is always a hard race to win, but he did it well in the end,” said trainer Henry de Bromhead of the eight-year-old’s Down Royal victory in November.
“He has got a really high cruising speed, but it was lovely to see him run through the line like he did and it looks like three miles really does suit him.
“It is great to see him back over a more realistic trip for him. The trip was unknown at Down Royal. but it was great to see him do it as well as he did.”
Lucinda Russell’s Grade One-winning novice Ahoy Senor, Alex Hales’ Millers Bank and Joe Tizzard’s Eldorado Allen complete the line-up, with the latter runner-up in both the Charlie Hall and Betfair Chase this term.
“He seems in really good form and we’ve been chuffed with his couple of runs so far this season,” said Tizzard.
“It’s a hot King George and we would need a bit of a surprise to go and win it, but he has run well there in the past and proven he stays three miles well this year, so I see no reason why he can’t run into a place.
“He seems like he’s in good form at home and if he runs a lifetime best, he will have a nice each-way chance.”
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