Shishkin a possible for rearranged Fighting Fifth

Nicky Henderson is considering running Shishkin in the rearranged Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown next Saturday.

The Seven Barrows handler is eager to get a King George VI Chase prep run into his multiple Grade One scorer, after refusing to race at Ascot in the 1965 Chase and also seeing a planned run in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle lost to the weather.

A lack of options over fences has now seen Henderson toy with the idea of reverting Shishkin to the smaller obstacles, as well as dropping back to two miles, for the rearranged Grade One that reopens on Monday.

That would of course pave the way for Constitution Hill – who also missed out on an outing at Newcastle – to head straight to Kempton on Boxing Day for the Christmas Hurdle, although the trainer is yet to finalise plans with the unbeaten superstar’s owner Michael Buckley.

“Michael is coming down here and we will talk and we have to consider the timing,” said Henderson, speaking at Newbury.

“Shishkin was the horse I really wanted to run, I cannot believe he would win a King George first time out.

“He’s got to try to have a run and I have a little idea. He might have to come and have a run over hurdles because there are no chases to run in. Three miles would be too far in what might be hard work ground and I’m thinking of coming back into the Fighting Fifth because that reopens on Monday.

“I wouldn’t worry about Constitution Hill first time out.

“There are lots of bits of jigsaw floating around and it is very good the Fighting Fifth does come back to Sandown.

“I need to speak to Michael. Constitution Hill doesn’t need a run to be ready for the Christmas Hurdle and is that more important than this, I don’t know?

“Seventeen days is tight for Constitution, but I wouldn’t be so worried about Shishkin funnily enough.

“I think trying to win the King George first time is a very brave route and he needs a race. There is a handicap at Chepstow next Saturday, but I hardly think three miles round Chepstow with 12st is the right cup of tea 17 days from a King George.

“So the alternative is to put him in the Fighting Fifth and he goes well down Sandown. He would enjoy that and it’s a good start coming back towards home, but I’m not worried about that starting bit, I don’t think that’s an issue.

“It is very possible he could come in it as well or on his own. This would purely be a way of getting a race into Shishkin and we all believe he is a three-miler so he’s hardly likely to win a Grade One over two miles over hurdles, but I think everyone understands what we are trying to do.

“He will run very well I’m sure, but it is a way into the King George.

“Quite a lot could come into the field on Monday and it could be a completely different race. I might be being too honest here and we should probably have swapped them in and out on Monday morning and we probably will.

“I’m not saying Constitution Hill will not be in there that’s for sure, you certainly couldn’t rule him out. For him though it is tight, whereas Shishkin is desperate for a run and I like the idea of going two miles. I think the hurdle race is a kinder way of doing it and he would enjoy it.”

Both Constitution Hill and Shishkin were left with the prospect of nowhere to lay their head having abandoned their trip to Gosforth Park just south of the north east on Friday.

However, Henderson revealed he was inundated with offers after his appeal on television, with the high-class duo eventually bunkering down on Town Moor overnight.

“They had a stay in Doncaster last night, but I don’t think they went down to the hotel for a few pints,” quipped Henderson.

“The camaraderie of racing was at its best as soon as I said on television I was looking for a stable and had two horses with no bed, the people who came forward were unbelievable.

“Ann Duffield rang me from Barbados, Doncaster rang me, Hexham rang me, Karl Burke rang me. It was unbelievable and I could have gone Malton, Middleham, anywhere.

“The one condition was I got the horses back in the morning!”