Nicky Henderson's superstar Shishkin a brilliant winner of the Betfair Ascot Chase

Once deemed an unstoppable force in the two-mile division, winning a Supreme and an Arkle, there were questions as to whether the racing public would ever see him back to his best as he was pulled up when favourite in last season's Queen Mother Champion Chase and struggled in the Tingle Creek Chase on his seasonal reappearance.

The nine-year-old has had some well-publicised problems and his trainer was prompted to step him up in trip, not even entering Shishkin for the Champion Chase. That boldness was rewarded in spades as Shishkin, sent off at 2/1, jumped superbly throughout the two mile five furlong Grade One contest.

Last year’s winner and favourite Fakir D’oudairies was ridden patiently but could never get to the leaders and was beaten some way out.

Pic D'Orhy had raced prominently and was alongside Shishkin turning in and Nico de Boinville could be seen pushing along aboard the winner but he responded and galloped on relentlessly to record a wide margin and deeply impressive success.

Paul Nicholls, trainer of the second, told Sky Sports Racing: “I just said to Johnny (De la Hey, owner) we’ve been beaten by a better horse, end of story. I think he’s probably run right up to his best, he’s beaten Millers Bank and Fakir D’oudairies but he’s not good enough to beat Shishkin.

“We’ll let him (Shishkin) go to the Ryanair, we’ll give that a miss and probably head to Aintree. We’d have probably done that anyway as the flat track suits him better. I’d imagine Shishkin will be hard to beat in the Ryanair.”

The bookmakers were in full agreement and Shishkin would be one of the most popular winners of the Cheltenham Festival week.

The ante-post market for the Ryanair Chase had been turned on its head with the recent withdrawal of Allaho and had looked very open but that's no longer the case with Shishkin a clear 5/4 favourite with Sky Bet (from 7/2) and Betfair Sportsbook while Paddy Power go 11/10.

"Did you see how happy he was going over that trip?" De Boinville asked Matt Chapman.

"All fairness to the boss and everyone at home, they've done a fantastic job getting him back. He jumped into the bridle and away he went."

Shiskin also holds an entry in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Chapman tried to persuade De Boinville that race, deemed to be more prestigious by the presenter, ought to be the target rather than 'the lesser' Ryanair Chase.

"It takes good horses to win a Ryanair," replied the adamant jockey. "He's a good horse. He felt fantastic, he felt back to his best and he'll come on for that run I can assure you of that."

A beaming Henderson said: "The team can be (very proud). Everybody, literally everybody. We've had a bone problem and a wind operation. Nico said he had a good blow coming to the last and I think he'll come on for today.

"Nico is adamant that the Champion Chase is not the race. He was straight into his bridle and he was travelling the whole way. You've seen him in the Tingle Creek and the Clarence House and he was off the bridle the whole way. The difference today was that we were always travelling and he was always loving it and that's what I loved; to see him back in his comfort zone the whole way round."

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“Today was everything," Henderson continued.

"If he didn’t show today, we had to say ‘look, we were very lucky, we had a good horse but we haven’t got one anymore’, but today we can say we still have a very good horse,” Henderson said.

“Good horses are good horses, class will out and that’s what it did today. Bless him, he did that.

“The whole game was different, he was on the bridle the whole way. That’s what I wanted to see, instead of having to keep niggling, keep pressing, keep kicking. The first fence was going to tell us everything, second fence told us a lot and by the third, I was a happy man.”

The Ryanair looks the natural next step come the Cheltenham Festival, a race opened up by the withdrawal of Willie Mullins’ two-time winner Allaho.

That news broke during a media morning at Henderson’s yard, but did not influence plans for Shishkin that instead hinged on his Ascot performance.

Henderson said: “Some of you were down with us on Monday morning and suddenly the news came through that Allaho was out, that didn’t change what we were going to do anyway.

“We were just going to take it from what we’ve learnt today. The only thing Nico said there is that we do not need the Champion Chase, because the pace of that is actually going to undo what we’ve just done.

“I think you’ve got to say that he’ll be odds on for the Ryanair, unless somebody tells me that there are so many bad horses in the Gold Cup that you’ve got to run him in it.”

Of the chances of Shishkin taking up his Gold Cup entry, Henderson added: “I would have thought it would be pretty stupid, but I’ve done some stupid things in my time so far!

“He’s not in the Champion Chase and he’s not coming into it, at least I can say he’s in the other two. I would have thought the most likely has got to be the Ryanair, it’s the sensible one.”

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