SHISHKIN CAN GO WHEREVER AT ANY POINT

STABLE star Shishkin may be in hiding but trainer Nicky Henderson came out swinging in defence of not running the horse in Saturday’s Grade One Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown, despite that race being pencilled in as a long-term target for some time.

The trainer and owner have a duty of care to the horse and if they feel that he’s not ready to run, then that’s final. Nobody else’s opinion matters, in that respect. But punters, understandably, can’t help but feel short-changed by the situation of small fields in jumps racing.

The days of throwing in Bobs Worth to win the Hennessy, now the Ladbrokes Trophy which was run yesterday, off a mark of 160 seem to be long gone. If there was a nice intermediate chase, say one at Sandown a few weeks back where Chantry House won a match race, then Bobs Worth may have went there before winning the 2013 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

When Willie Mullins declared his intention to run Irish big gun Chacun Pour Soi, Henderson pulled out Shishkin to go for what looks likely an easier Festive assignment in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton. Coincidence? Whether you believe Henderson has pulled out a ‘95-per-cent fit’ Shishkin for genuine reasons or not, the fact that there or so many trivial Graded races provides the option to cop out in search for an easy opening.

Amidst graduation/intermediate Chases for second-season novices, we have the Shloer Chase, the Clarence House Chase, Tingle Creek, Desert Orchid and the Game Spirit Chase at Grade Two or One level between November and February exclusively in the two-mile division. We also have the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter as a Grade Two handicap option in late October. There aren’t really enough horses of that calibre to fill those races, hence why Shishkin can go elsewhere.