Nicky Henderson: Shishkin has 'flipped his palate' and will have ten days off

Nicky Henderson has said Shishkin will face a short spell on the sidelines after making a noise in a piece of work this week.

The four-time Grade 1 winner, who made his return when third in the Tingle Creek Chase last month, had been due to step up in trip to contest the Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton next weekend.

However, the nine-year-old was discovered to have "flipped his palate" after making a noise during work and will now have ten days off, according to the trainer.

"After working earlier this week Nico [de Boinville] reported that Shishkin made a noise," Henderson said in his Unibet blog. "We’ve never heard any noises from him before, not even a murmur, but Nico said there was a noise and we’ve investigated it and scoped him and he’d basically flipped his palate.

"It was clear and obvious. Essentially his palate is displacing which is surprising as we’ve never heard it in a race but it’s highly like that it was indeed happening in a race.

"It’s a very easy fix but it’s ten days off. We’ve got to do it, we’ll get on with it and get it done. It’s a common old problem and a very easy thing to fix but, as I say, it’s got to be done."

While short-term plans are up in the air for Shishkin, he was entered this week in both the Ryanair Chase and the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March. He is available at 8-1 for the Ryanair and 40-1 for the Gold Cup.

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