Nicky Henderson has trained a number of great champion horses during his illustrious career.
The 71-year-old has established a legacy as one of the greatest trainers in the history of the National Hunt due to his success with horses of the calibre of Buveur D’Air, who won the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in successive seasons, Long Run, who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2011 along with two King George VI Chase crowns, and of course the great Altior, who claimed the Champion Chase in 2018 and 2019 and was widely regarded as one of the best horses to compete in the National Hunt. However, all of those charges could be eclipsed by the Irish thoroughbred Shishkin.
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The eight-year-old has already won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the Arkle Chase at Cheltenham Festival in successive years, and is backed as one of the surest Cheltenham races bets for the 2022 event to win the Champion Chase. Henderson’s charge will face competition from Energumene, who has been a fine competitor and value will be found in the Champion Chase tips for the French thoroughbred to triumph over Shishkin in their duel at Prestbury Park. Shishkin has already conquered Willie Mulllins’ charge once in the campaign, producing a stellar effort down the stretch to beat out his rival at Ascot Racecourse to win the Clarence House Chase.
Henderson and jockey Nico de Boinville will be prepared for the task at hand to ensure that Shishkin is ready for the challenge. The pedigree of the horse is sensational, and although he was not at his best in the Clarence House Chase, he still managed to haul in a quality opponent and beat him by a length. At the peak of his powers, Shishkin is simply sublime and no horse in his class has been able to touch him as a chaser. In the Desert Orchid Chase earlier in the campaign he blew away the rest of the field, and last season in the Arkle Chase, he secured a dominant victory by 12 lengths ahead of Eldorado Allen.
The manner of his victories has earned comparisons to his stable-mate Altior, who was equally imperious in his races at Cheltenham. Shishkin still has a way to go to match Altior’s prowess on the track, and that will only come with at least one victory in the Champion Chase. The difference between the two may come in the next campaign where Henderson may press Shishkin forward for the Cheltenham Gold Cup rather than a second run in the Champion Chase. Altior was not afforded the opportunity to try his hand at three miles rather than two, which was disappointing as it would have been a great sight to see him attempt to push out of his comfort zone.
