SHISHKIN marches on to the Cheltenham Festival with a perfect record over fences following a bloodless win at Doncaster.
Nicky Henderson’s flying machine coasted home by eight and a half lengths as the 1-7 jolly in the Lightning Novices’ Chase.
The bookies left him unchanged for the Arkle, with Paddy Power and Betfair joint top-price at 8-11, and he heads there as one of the ‘bankers’ of the week.
Any punters who bet £70 to nick a tenner at Donny never had an anxious moment.
Just four runners went to post following the late withdrawal of Cheddleton, and Eldorado Allen tried to make of race of it from the front under Jonjo O’Neill Jr.
Fast Buck fell mid-race and rank outsider Est Illic back-pedalled quickly as the front two in the betting turned the taps on at the approach to the straight.
And no sooner had Shishkin moved alongside Eldorado Allen four out than he put the race to bed with a wicked turn of foot under a motionless Nico De Boinville.
Shishkin will face a much stiffer test at Cheltenham in a little over six weeks’ time, with the Willie Mullins-trained Energumene and Dan Skelton’s Allmankind lying in wait.
But his preparation has gone as smooth as Nicky Henderson could have wished, and the champion trainer will now deploy the cotton wool to keep him sound until March.
More to follow…
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