Betfair Ascot Chase: Timeform preview and free Race Pass
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Only six runners are set to go to post in the Betfair Ascot Chase (15:35) on Saturday but it's a fascinating renewal as it features a clash between a star with something to prove in Shishkin (Timeform weight-adjusted rating: 181), a rock-solid performer in Fakir d'Oudairies (177) and an up-and-comer in Pic d'Orhy (174).
Shishkin won his first ten completed starts over jumps, including the Clarence House Chase at this venue last January, when he put up an outstanding effort to beat Energumene by a length.
Shishkin was an odds-on favourite to extend his winning sequence in the Champion Chase - where he was bidding to add to previous Festival victories in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Sporting Life Arkle - but he was never travelling with any zest and was pulled up after the eighth.
A rare bone condition was subsequently identified, raising hopes that Shishkin would be able to return to something like his best on his reappearance in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown in December. However, while he ran better than at Cheltenham, he was still disappointing, seeming flat out a long way from home before eventually finishing a distant third.
Shishkin clearly has something to prove following those efforts but a wind op since Sandown, the application of a tongue tie and the longer trip in this two-mile-five-furlong event offer hope that he might be able to bounce back. Even rated on the sort of form he showed in the Arkle and the Desert Orchid Chase, rather than his standout effort in the Clarence House, Shishkin still heads Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings.
Fakir d'Oudairies is not as talented as a peak-form Shishkin but he's a top-class operator in his own right and has been successful four times at the highest level, including in this event 12 months ago.
He arrives in good order having won the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles last month. He probably would have been runner-up had Haut En Couleurs not fallen at the final fence, but he was sticking to his task well and it was a good effort giving 9 lb to that talented rival. He's a reliable sort and looks the most likely to capitalise if Shishkin underperforms again.
Pic d'Orhy also arrives in form as he posted a career-best effort when landing the Silviniaco Conti Chase by 16 lengths last month, making it three from three for the season.
That was a high-class performance from Pic d'Orhy who is well worth a short at something like this, though this will pose a stiffer examination of his credentials, particularly if he's taken on for the lead.
Pic d'Orhy won the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon on his penultimate start, where he had Millers Bank (167) and First Flow (172) back in third.
Millers Bank ran right up to his best at Huntingdon, though had to settle for second behind Pic d'Orhy, just as he'd done in the Pendil at Kempton last season. He has had a breathing operation since running below form in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
First Flow, who was giving 3 lb to Pic d'Orhy and Millers Bank, produced a respectable effort to finish third on his reappearance at Huntingdon. He has run to a higher level than that before, most notably when winning the Clarence House Chase here in 2021.
The field is completed by Aye Right (167), a very smart handicap chaser who was a respectable fourth in the Rowland Meyrick last time. He's unlikely to snap a long losing run in this company, however.
Timeform's analyst verdict:
Shishkin edged out Champion Chase hero Energumene in a thrilling Clarence House here last winter and is well worth another chance to confirm himself a chaser right out of the top drawer over this longer trip having undergone a wind op since coming in only third in the Tingle Creek on his return. Last year's winner Fakir d'Oudairies rates the chief threat to Nicky Henderson's charge ahead of the improving Pic d'Orhy and reliable First Flow.
Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings:
181+ Shishkin
177 Fakir d'Oudairies
174 Pic d'Orhy
172 First Flow
167 Millers Bank
167 Aye Right
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