Nicky Henderson was pleased with the return of his impressive Cheltenham Festival first and had good news on Epatante
Four years and two days after Altior’s successful chasing debut at Kempton, his stable companion Shishkin produced a flawless round of jumping in the same beginners’ chase to launch his own career over fences, cruising to a 23-length defeat of Mick Pastor at odds of 1-6 which saw his price for the Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham in March cut to just 2-1.
Shishkin’s ante-post odds might seem short with more than three months to go until the Festival opens on 16 March, but Altior was the same price after beating Black Corton – subsequently a Grade One winner over fences – by 63 lengths on his chasing debut in November 2016 and went on to win the Arkle by six lengths as the 1-4 favourite.
