Henderson is fearful for Shishkin after a day when the Tornado struck Kempton

On so many of the biggest days, and in so many of the biggest races, Britain's top jumpers have been smashed to smithereens through 2021, battered on home soil by the unstoppable force of Ireland's top horses.

Fittingly, therefore, British racing's Christmas classic was this year plundered by an Irish tornado.

A tornado can generally be predicted. Nobody could have confidently foreseen the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase triumph of Tornado Flyer, a previously smart but unspectacular performer who had not won a race for two years. On this festive afternoon he reinvented himself, the widely dismissed outsider becoming the longest-priced winner in King George history. It makes little sense, except for the fact he is Irish and trained by Willie Mullins, which accordingly means it makes perfect sense.