Shishkin heads the British-trained challenge for this year's Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival, but he remains a talking horse following a mixed season of results.
Winner of the Arkle in 2021, the Nicky Henderson-trained gelding embarked on a new challenge at the start of 2022, stepping up to two-and-a-half miles with a victory in the Grade 1 Ascot Chase. He relished a further stamina test when taking the Grade 1 Aintree Bowl in April but refused to race in first-time cheekpieces on his seasonal reappearance in the 1965 Chase at Ascot.
Whilst the application of headgear was cited as a conceivable cause for his refusal, Henderson is keen to dismiss the theory and has not dismissed the possibility of cheekpieces for the Gold Cup.
"I won't say I haven't thought about it (putting on cheekpieces for the Gold Cup) since Newbury but I would say it's very unlikely. I promise you; it was nothing to do with why he didn't start (at Ascot)," said Henderson.
Shishkin produced no such antics at the start of the King George VII Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day and appeared to be coming with a winning run when unseating Nico de Boinville after the second-last fence. It was a performance which pleased his trainer:
"It was interesting, you know, if you go back to the King George. You've got good old Frodon at the front there and he goes a good gallop. Nico saw fit, quite rightly, to actually go and push that along halfway down the back straight.
"Nico was happy enough to let him rock and roll from halfway down the back. He was in pretty good command all the way from there to be honest. They beat the others. The winner (Hewick) did very, very well because actually passing the stands, I just remember thinking well, that's one out the way.
"I think it came out of it really, really well. He looks as well as I've ever seen him."
Despite a strong performance in the King George, Shishkin was deemed to have questions to answer during his Gold Cup prep in the Grade 2 Denman Chase at Newbury and he dutifully silenced the doubters with a comfortable victory over Hitman. The reaction pre-race surrounding Shishkin surprised his handler.
"It's funny how going into Newbury the other day, he was certainly treated like some sort of criminal that had just been let out of prison. If he doesn't show up today, where is he? He did nothing wrong – the King George wasn't his fault; he just knocked his leg. Anybody can do that.
"Ascot was his fault, I mean, it was nobody else's. He'd been a naughty boy one day at Ascot but that doesn't make him a criminal. And that's what it felt like going into Newbury. You know, will he turn up? Why wouldn't he?"
Whilst the Willie Mullins-trained Galopin Des Champs is a warm favourite for this year's Gold Cup, his early season defeats have left the door open for other leading contenders and Shishkin is a best-priced 8/1 to provide the Seven Barrows handler with his third success in the blue riband event.
"I think (the Gold Cup) is open enough and certainly enough to be in it anyway," said Henderson.
"He deserves to be in it. I mean, he would have been first or second in the King George. Let's face it, I honestly think he would have won, but that was still a hell of a performance for his first run of the year. Even if he finished second, that was as good a trial as you were going to see. And then he did it nicely at Newbury, so we come into this on a pretty good stride."
