‘That’s racing’ – Henderson takes Shishkin’s ill fortune on the chin

PA Sport Reporters
December 26, 2023 4:19 pm

Stumble after the penultimate fence ends King George hopes.

Shishkin left his starting woes behind him at Kempton – only to be dealt a cruel blow when departing the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase with everything still very much to play for.

Nicky Henderson’s mercurial character had refused to race at Ascot on his seasonal debut and while connections reported him to be in good form at home, the only thing they could not be completely sure of was if he would jump off.

His talent has never been in doubt as a multiple Grade One winner over both hurdles and fences, but ever since beating Energumene in an epic duel for the Clarence House Chase at Ascot in January 2022, Shishkin has endured a series of ups and downs.

He was found to be suffering from a rare bone condition when pulling up in the Champion Chase of that year, then was beaten on his return last season in the Tingle Creek and immediately stepped up in trip.

😲 Talk about drama – an incredible finish to the King George!
🏆 It’s HEWICK who storms home to land the Boxing Day feature at @kemptonparkrace, rallying to deny Allaho and Bravemansgame, after Shishkin unseated Nico de Boinville!pic.twitter.com/ZhMGwJj0Wr

— Sporting Life Racing (@SportingLife) December 26, 2023

Successful at Ascot on his next outing, he stayed on for second in the Ryanair Chase before flying home to win at Aintree on his first run over three miles – but he opted to take no part at Ascot last month.

He did start with the others in the King George, and although Nico de Boinville did have to roust him along early he soon warmed up and took over in front from Frodon after the first circuit.

Approaching the second-last he was in the lead and seemingly had Allaho and Bravemansgame beaten when he got his feet tangled a couple of strides after jumping the fence, giving De Boinville no chance of staying on board.

That allowed 12-1 outsider Hewick to claim an unlikely victory as he stormed past Allaho and Bravemansgame, leaving Henderson to take the positives from Shishkin’s luckless run.

“I think they say – ‘that’s racing!’,” he said.

Trainers Nicky Henderson (left) and Paul Nicholls were both out of luck in the King George (Steven Paston/PA)

“I was delighted with him until then. To be fair, Nico and I had discussed the start (of the race) at length, but we hadn’t really discussed the rest of the race. But he was having a good time, he was jumping great.

“There was all this talk of having to put cheekpieces on him and things – we took them off because it was the obvious thing to do. I think a lot of people thought it might help him, but he didn’t look as if he needed them there did he?

“It appears, and those that have watched the replay have said, that he didn’t do anything wrong. He just sort of stumbled and forgot to get the foot out.”

On future plans for Shishkin, he said: “He’s got to go for the Gold Cup hasn’t he, because that’s the obvious race? He’s not going to come back in trip I wouldn’t have thought. I suppose that’s what we’ll have to do.”

De Boinville said: “I’m very proud of the horse but these things happen.

“I think it was three strides after the fence he came down, I’m not sure what happened. Racing can be cruel.

“He behaved well and I’ve never had a roar like that from a crowd for getting to my feet.”

Defending champion Bravemansgame was beaten a length and a half into second and his trainer Paul Nicholls felt Shishkin’s departure had scuppered his challenge.

He said: “Harry (Cobden) said he was getting a bit of tow from the other horse (Shishkin) for as long as he could, then the other horse had an unfortunate incident, and that interfered with him and that stopped him dead and cost him any chance then.

“He has run a good, solid race. It is a case of ifs and buts. He has run a good race again, and he was staying on strongly again and picked up the crumbs. I’ve never doubted that he stays. He is better on better ground.

Bravemansgame (orange) held every chance over the last but Hewick (green) stayed on well (John Walton/PA)

“We will get him fresh and well now and go to Cheltenham. I don’t think he needs to go to Newbury as he has had three hard races. Unfortunately he got stopped dead in his tracks today, but you can’t make excuses as incidents happen and he wasn’t good enough on the day.”

Cheltenham Festival winner The Real Whacker was always on the back foot and finished fourth for Sam Twiston-Davies, beaten just over 10 lengths.

His trainer Patrick Neville said: “He stayed on really well at the end, which I was happy with.

“He missed the start for some reason today and we were always chasing after that. I like the way he stayed on at the end and the Gold Cup is still on the agenda. Cheltenham is a place that he likes.

“I think we might go straight to the Gold Cup. Sam said he was always on the back foot, but he just missed the start. There was no one to blame. It was a good run and I’m happy. He has come out of the race well.

“Fair play to the winner, and I’d take finishing fourth in a King George any day.”