Tag Archive for: Betfair Denman chase

Gold-en ticket awaits Shishkin if all goes to plan at Newbury

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Nicky Henderson has admitted it is “guesswork” as to whether Shishkin will stay the Cheltenham Gold Cup trip – but that will be where he heads if successfully navigating his Betfair Denman Chase assignment at Newbury on Saturday.

The 10-year-old proved he has the capacity to stay three miles when winning the Aintree Bowl last spring, while he was in the process of running a huge race in the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day before unseating Nico de Boinville two from home.

However, the extra quarter-mile the cream of the staying division have to master in the blue riband has caught many a top chaser out down the years. And the Seven Barrows handler concedes it is a question that will only be answered on the day itself, despite feeling confident it will be within Shishkin’s compass.

Trainer Nicky Henderson and Shishkin at Seven Barrows
Trainer Nicky Henderson and Shishkin at Seven Barrows (David Davies/PA)

Henderson said: “It’s going to be guesswork because he’s not been that far. He’s not even in the Ryanair, so I assume we think he must stay something otherwise he won’t be going anywhere.

“I would be pretty confident about that and I know it is difficult to say. I know if you get three miles round Kempton it doesn’t mean anything, but what do you do. There’s a good race at Aintree yes, but if he gets home at Newbury and he does well then you have to go (to the Gold Cup), don’t you.”

The dual Cheltenham Festival winner has spent the majority of his career campaigning over two miles, winning both the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and Arkle at that distance in the Cotswolds.

Connections explored stepping up in trip following a lacklustre display in the 2022 Tingle Creek and after roaring back to his very best in the Ascot Chase, he finished second in the Ryanair at the Festival before proving successful at Aintree when downing Ahoy Senor.

It is a move that has somewhat caught Henderson by surprise and he said: “No you didn’t really dream (of Shishkin being a Gold Cup horse), because not surprisingly, after Supremes and Arkles you think he is a two-miler.

“Then we went two and a half and two-mile-five when he won at Ascot which was his first time over a trip and it became very obvious he is a stayer.

“He ran in the Ryanair which wasn’t very good, but he came back and ran in the three-miler at Aintree which was very good and I think he proved he stayed there.

“Since then we have continued down that road and the beginning of this season was always going to be all about the King George.”

He went on: “Where things went a bit wrong was the Ascot fiasco when he didn’t want to jump off, so consequently he had to go into the King George without having his prep race, which always frightened me.

“To be fair it didn’t make a great difference and he ran a great race no matter what the result might have been.

“It was just one of those incidents, it’s not as if he did anything wrong and he jumped beautifully all the way.”

Shishkin has been partnered in all 19 starts under rules by De Boinville who he unceremoniously unshipped with the King George at his mercy on Boxing Day.

Nico de Boinville is the only man to ride Shishkin under rules
Nico de Boinville is the only man to ride Shishkin under rules (Mike Egerton/PA)

A further spill at Doncaster over the Christmas period saw the 34-year-old sidelined with a broken collarbone and after a return to the injury list following a premature comeback, Henderson hopes to have his number one back to full fitness to be aboard Shishkin once again.

He said: “We had a little comeback about 10 days ago and he wasn’t quite ready, but he has been riding out since Saturday – he came in and work on Shishkin then – and has been in every day and schooled a few times.

“He’s in good form, I just want him to have a couple of rides to be ready for Saturday, I hope.”

Nicholls backing Hitman for Denman redemption

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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
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
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
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.