Nicky Henderson has reported Shishkin to be ‘fine’ following his misfortunate exit at the second last in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
The enigmatic Joe Donnelly-owned chaser looked to hold every chance of landing another top-level success over fences when slipping on landing a few strides after the second last.
Shishkin refused to race on his intended reappearance in the 1965 Chase at Ascot but despite not having a run under his belt heading into the King George, Henderson believes his nine-year-old would have kept up the gallop all the way to the line if keeping the partnership with Nico de Boinville intact.
The Lambourn-based maestro said: "Shishkin is fine. I was a bit concerned that he might have hit something and occurred some damage, but he doesn't appear to have done so I'm 100 per cent happy on that front. It was just one of those things, I guess.
"I'm not going to say he would have won, but the consensus of opinion is that he probably would have done as he wasn't stopping.
"He was really coming up at every fence, and he seemed to be travelling well. I'm pretty sure he would have kept on galloping as he galloped all the way to the line at Aintree.
"Our biggest concern was that he hadn't had a run. When he has not had a run he controls us, but we are now in control as he has got that run under his belt and he will be a much easier horse to train."
The multiple Grade 1-winning chaser already has some prestigious contests on his CV including the 2021 Arkle, the 2022 Clarence House Chase and the 2023 Ascot Chase. Henderson dropped the nine-year-old back in trip for the Ascot Chase last season, but Shishkin looks set to remain in staying chases heading into the rest of his campaign.
Henderson said: "I don't know what to do at the moment and we are just mulling it over. I don't think we will come back in trip for the Ascot Chase, even though he did win that last year.
"You have got the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham and the Denman Chase at Newbury, and they are the only two real possibilities for him before the Gold Cup.
"It will either be one of them, or none of them, but what he needs is experience and a nice clear round."
