Next race off: how does super Shishkin measure up to the other great champions?

Doom Bar Maghull Novices' Chase (Grade 1) | 2m | 5yo+ | ITV/RTV

Shishkin is so far ahead of his fellow novices that he has scared off the opposition in this Grade 1 and he is already at the stage where he is best measured against other champions.

After recording a Racing Post Rating of 170 on just his second start over fences, Shishkin was rated higher than illustrious stablemates Sprinter Sacre and Altior at the same stage of their careers but now, after four runs unbeaten, he hasn’t progressed as well as those two did.

Shishkin has won his last two, but he improved only 2lb at Doncaster in January and made the same amount of modest progress for a figure of 174 in the Arkle at Cheltenham last time.

At this stage of their chase careers, Sprinter Sacre’s best RPR was 176 and Altior’s 175, so judged purely on those figures Shishkin needs to progress further to match them as a novice.

It’s highly unlikely he will record a huge figure in this race because there simply isn’t the standard of horse in opposition that would be needed for him to achieve a high rating.

Shishkin: unbeaten over fencesCredit: Edward Whitaker

Elvis Mail has a peak rating of just 153 on RPRs, so Shishkin would need to beat him by upwards of 20 lengths to have any chance of reaching Sprinter Sacre’s best RPR of 176 as a novice.

We will learn more about Shishkin when he steps up in class out of novice races next season and let’s not forget he is being compared with two all-time greats. We shouldn’t be too harsh.

Funambule Sivola and Gumball look set to put the pace to the race, but in front might not be the optimal position in the fight for second.

Eldorado Allen was given an ultra-conservative ride to pick off front-runners Allmankind and Captain Guinness for second in the Arkle and a similar approach might bear fruit for Elvis Mail, who races keenly and will relish a fast pace.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

Shining star Shishkin bids to round off perfect season

Amongst the wreckage of this year’s Cheltenham Festival there was one shining star for British racing to cling on to in Shishkin, the outstanding winner of the Arkle.

The heir apparent to champion two-mile chasers Sprinter Sacre and Altior at trainer Nicky Henderson’s yard, Shishkin took his record to four from four over fences with a swaggering performance under jockey Nico de Boinville.

“He was very good wasn’t he?” Henderson said. “It was as much of a relief as anything. To be fair he was very professional. He’s very quick and he gets from A to B and you hardly notice he has done it.”

Anything less than victory number five over fences for Shishkin, whose owners Joe and Marie Donnelly donated £10,000 of their Arkle prize-money to children’s charity WellChild, will come as a tremendous shock, with the seven-year-old set to start at long odds-on in a contest where his rivals are realistically all playing for second place at best, baring mishap.

Altior did not line up at Aintree after his Cheltenham Festival victory but Sprinter Sacre landed this race in devastating fashion – as was his style – in 2012. Another of Henderson’s winners of this Grade 1, Finian’s Rainbow, finished second in the Arkle in 2011.

“This seems the obvious place to come as he seems a sharp horse and I don’t see the need to go any further at the moment,” Henderson said. “The tracks couldn’t be more different if you tried and this is a sharp track but he is a speed horse.

“He's been great, he's come out of Cheltenham bright and well so here we go again. They'll all have a go at him but he can have one more run before we put him away.”

What they say

Nick Alexander, trainer of Elvis Mail
He's taking on a very good horse but there's a very good prize for finishing second and he has a sporting chance of doing that. He'll like the track and the ground and he's in good form.

Venetia Williams, trainer of Funambule Sivola
He’s had a pleasing run through this season and this is obviously a huge step up in class. I think we’re all realistically running for second place behind Shishkin but that’s a worthwhile contest in itself.

Gumball (left) will have to produce a big career best to challenge Shishkin (right)Credit: Edward Whitaker

Philip Hobbs, trainer of Gumball
We're looking for the place money, though he's a good horse in his own right.

Dan Skelton, trainer of Longhouse Sale
There's no point taking on Shishkin with Allmankind and we'll go to Ayr with him, so we'll try to pick up some crumbs with Longhouse Sale. He's a good horse in his own right, but he can't win off his handicap mark of 144, which massively overrates him. He's only a novice for so long, so we'll see what we can pick up.
Reporting by Peter Scargill

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