'The King George is the obvious race for him' - Shishkin shows his class to reel in Ahoy Senor in Bowl

He was not himself at Cheltenham and for much of this race his back was against the wall, but Shishkin's transformation from a flashy two-miler into a streetfighting stayer was complete in a thrilling running of the Bowl.

Going up to three miles for the first time under rules and set a stern stamina test by the free-wheeling Ahoy Senor, Shishkin seemed out of his ground two fences from home but rallied to find top gear approaching the last before going past the long-time leader on the run-in.

It takes two horses to make a thrilling race and back at the scene of his two Grade 1 victories Ahoy Senor played his part under Brian Hughes, only going down to the Nicky Henderson-trained superstar in the last 100 yards.

"It was a great race," Henderson said. "Two out we looked in trouble, but he proved he stays because he had to chase down the leader. Credit to Ahoy Senor, he's been a brave old horse out in front and has been hard to pass.

"Shishkin was like he was at Ascot, he had to jump well the whole way and he was never on the bridle at all at Cheltenham. I took the tongue tie off him and everyone has done a great job to get him back."

It was only last season that Shishkin won an epic Clarence House Chase over 2m1f when he defeated subsequent two-time Champion Chase hero Energumene.

After a disappointing display in last season's Champion Chase and a comeback third in the Tingle Creek, Shishkin was stepped up to 2m5f in February's Ascot Chase and bounced back with a 16-length romp.

Connections opted for last month's Ryanair over a possible Gold Cup bid, but he failed to fire with only his class enabling him to rally for second behind Envoi Allen after a bad mistake at the third-last.

With Shishkin relishing this extra distance and suggesting he might even want further, the bookies cut him to 4-1 (from 8) for the next season's King George and 12-1 (from 25) for the 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

"He proved he stays and three miles is where he's going to stay now – there's no question about that, we're not going to come back," Henderson added. 

"The obvious race is the King George and then take it from there. Whether you go Betfair [Chase] and King George I don't know, but you're fairly limited with options. 

"We had to show up, he had to show up and he's proved himself today. He stays, he's brave and he can fight."

Shishkin: winner of the Aintree BowlCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Winning jockey Nico de Boinville, who was aboard Henderson's previous Bowl winner Might Bite five years ago, raised the possibility of headgear for Shishkin next season, but was keen to focus on the brave nature of the victory.

"Ahoy Senor is difficult to pass when he's jumping all over the track, so he had to be really gutsy today and battle it out," the jockey said. "I'm over the moon with him, the team has done a fantastic job at home.

"I didn't have the speed, so I thought I would just wait and take my time. It's a long way up the straight here. I'm delighted for everybody." 

Henderson also hailed the team effort at Seven Barrows for getting Shishkin firing again just four weeks after his Cheltenham disappointment. 

"He was so much better today than he was at Cheltenham," the trainer said. "His jumping was beautiful whereas at Cheltenham it was rubbish. 

"He was very sore after Cheltenham and you'd have to assume he might have been very sore before he went into it, but that's hard to tell. 

"He used to be very straightforward but like everybody he gets a bit creaky and you've got to treat him like that. We had four weeks to turn him around and it was enough time."

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