Nicky Henderson has admitted it is “guesswork” as to whether Shishkin will stay the Cheltenham Gold Cup trip – but that will be where he heads if successfully navigating his Betfair Denman Chase assignment at Newbury on Saturday.

The 10-year-old proved he has the capacity to stay three miles when winning the Aintree Bowl last spring, while he was in the process of running a huge race in the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day before unseating Nico de Boinville two from home.

However, the extra quarter-mile the cream of the staying division have to master in the blue riband has caught many a top chaser out down the years. And the Seven Barrows handler concedes it is a question that will only be answered on the day itself, despite feeling confident it will be within Shishkin’s compass.

Henderson said: “It’s going to be guesswork because he’s not been that far. He’s not even in the Ryanair, so I assume we think he must stay something otherwise he won’t be going anywhere.

“I would be pretty confident about that and I know it is difficult to say. I know if you get three miles round Kempton it doesn’t mean anything, but what do you do. There’s a good race at Aintree yes, but if he gets home at Newbury and he does well then you have to go (to the Gold Cup), don’t you.”

The dual Cheltenham Festival winner has spent the majority of his career campaigning over two miles, winning both the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and Arkle at that distance in the Cotswolds.

Connections explored stepping up in trip following a lacklustre display in the 2022 Tingle Creek and after roaring back to his very best in the Ascot Chase, he finished second in the Ryanair at the Festival before proving successful at Aintree when downing Ahoy Senor.

It is a move that has somewhat caught Henderson by surprise and he said: “No you didn’t really dream (of Shishkin being a Gold Cup horse), because not surprisingly, after Supremes and Arkles you think he is a two-miler.

“Then we went two and a half and two-mile-five when he won at Ascot which was his first time over a trip and it became very obvious he is a stayer.

“He ran in the Ryanair which wasn’t very good, but he came back and ran in the three-miler at Aintree which was very good and I think he proved he stayed there.

“Since then we have continued down that road and the beginning of this season was always going to be all about the King George.”

He went on: “Where things went a bit wrong was the Ascot fiasco when he didn’t want to jump off, so consequently he had to go into the King George without having his prep race, which always frightened me.

“To be fair it didn’t make a great difference and he ran a great race no matter what the result might have been.

“It was just one of those incidents, it’s not as if he did anything wrong and he jumped beautifully all the way.”

Shishkin has been partnered in all 19 starts under rules by De Boinville who he unceremoniously unshipped with the King George at his mercy on Boxing Day.

A further spill at Doncaster over the Christmas period saw the 34-year-old sidelined with a broken collarbone and after a return to the injury list following a premature comeback, Henderson hopes to have his number one back to full fitness to be aboard Shishkin once again.

He said: “We had a little comeback about 10 days ago and he wasn’t quite ready, but he has been riding out since Saturday – he came in and work on Shishkin then – and has been in every day and schooled a few times.

“He’s in good form, I just want him to have a couple of rides to be ready for Saturday, I hope.”

The Queen’s Reach For The Moon was reported to have finished lame after coming home unplaced on his jumping bow at Sedgefield.

Owned by the Queen in partnership with Sir Chips Keswick, Reach For The Moon was a Group Three winner and one-time Classic hope for Queen Elizabeth II before he lost his way on the Flat.

Switched to the care of Jamie Snowden, Reach For The Moon embarked on a National Hunt career in the second division of the Betting.Bet New Betting Sites Maiden Hurdle, but after racing in second through the early exchanges, he was beaten at the turn for home.

Schmilsson was was sent off the 11-10 favourite and successfully made all the running as Reach For The Moon dropped away, with Snowden eager to check on the gelding straight after the race.

He said: “He showed he’s got the aptitude for jumping but he’s returned lame, so we need to check that he’s OK.”

The Queen, whose husband the King was diagnosed with cancer on Monday, and Keswick had another Snowden-trained runner at Ludlow, but Schematic also finished unplaced for connections.

Nicky Henderson believes Sir Gino’s position as arguably the leading juvenile hurdler seen so far this season is undiminished after absorbing all the action from last weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival.

The master of Seven Barrows was an avid viewer of what he termed “the Willie Mullins racing festival”, with the Closutton trainer hoovering up all eight Grade One prizes on offer over Leopardstown’s two-day fixture, including the Irish Gold Cup with Galopin Des Champs.

While Ballyburn’s victory stroll in Sunday’s two-mile Grade One set alarm balls ringing for Henderson’s Supreme hope Jeriko Du Reponet, he was not so troubled by the result in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle, which saw Kargese lead home a one-two-three-four for Mullins.

Sir Gino is a general 4-5 favourite for the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival after supplementing a British debut win with a 10-length triumph over Burdett Road on Trials day at Prestbury Park and Henderson is confident of his claims, although he is not ruling out a late surprise contender.

He said: “Galopin looked very good on Saturday – they all looked very good over at the weekend at Leopardstown. I enjoyed watching the Willie Mullins racing festival!

“Watching the opposition over the weekend, of all the novices they had that came out, there were some very impressive performances, none more so than (owner) Ronnie Bartlett’s two-miler (Ballyburn). He looked very good and I’m trying to persuade him to go two and a half (miles).

“The juveniles didn’t possibly look as strong as they might do, I was thinking ‘Willie’s going to come out with some rocket’, it doesn’t looks as if he did. The opinion seemed to be nothing happened to cause Sir Gino a great loss of sleep.

“There’s sure to be something crop up somewhere, in the Adonis or in Ireland, but at the moment, his performance did look quite smart at Cheltenham and I think he is a very smart horse, but there’s a long way to go.”

Galopin Des Champs reversed recent form with Fastorslow in defending his Irish Gold Cup title, having found that rival too sharp on the last two of their three meetings.

A Cheltenham Gold Cup defence is now the next port of call for Mullins’ stable star, with Henderson hoping Shishkin can book his Festival ticket with victory in Saturday’s Betfair Denman Chase.

However, even if all should go to plan at Newbury, Henderson is anticipating the sternest of challenges from Galopin Des Champs in the Cotswolds next month.

Of Mullins’ charge, he said: “I think he’s very good, he’s a proven Gold Cup winner so he has to be very good. I think he is a very clinical, professional horse, he just gets out there and gets the job done.

“He doesn’t strike me as a very flashy horse in his race or anything, but he’s always there isn’t he. He’s a tough horse, too.

“I thought he was very, very good and you could find little fault in what he has done. He’s the horse we all have to beat and I’m just thinking and hoping he’s not unbeatable.”

Reach For The Moon was reported to have finished lame after coming home unplaced on his jumping bow at Sedgefield.

Owned by the Queen in partnership with Sir Chips Keswick, Reach For The Moon was a Group Three winner and one-time Classic hope for Queen Elizabeth II before he lost his way on the Flat.

Switched to the care of Jamie Snowden, Reach For The Moon embarked on a National Hunt career in the second division of the Betting.Bet New Betting Sites Maiden Hurdle, but after racing in second through the early exchanges, he was beaten at the turn for home.

Schmilsson was was sent off the 11-10 favourite and successfully made all the running as Reach For The Moon dropped away, with Snowden eager to check on the gelding’s health straight after the race.

He said: “He showed he’s got the aptitude for jumping but he’s returned lame, so we need to check that he’s OK.”

An intriguing field of four will go to post for the M1 Agency Sidney Banks Memorial Novices’ Hurdle at Huntingdon on Thursday.

Some good horses have won this Listed affair over the years – including the Nicky Henderson-trained Shishkin in 2020.

Representing Seven Barrows this year, and heading the market, is Jango Baie, winner the Formby Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree on Boxing Day.

That win in what was the Tolworth Hurdle took his record to two from two over timber, and he will once again be partnered by James Bowen.

“We’re going two-mile-three with him this time and it’s a slight step up (in trip), he was around Aintree over two last time,” said Henderson.

“I thought he was finishing that race very strongly, so I wanted to have a look at him around two and a half just to see. He’s in both the Supreme and the Baring Bingham (at the Cheltenham Festival) come March.

“The owner has both Jango Baie and Jingko Blue – and I’ll put the wrong horse in a race someday soon – and the other horse won very nicely at Sandown on Saturday.”

Two others in the field are unbeaten so far in their hurdling careers – Bugise Seagull for Charlie Longsdon and the Ben Pauling-trained Handstands.

Like Jango Baie, both are two from two and the latter was most recently seen scoring in a novice event at Newcastle.

“He’s a lovely horse who does everything you ask of him at home but no more,” said Pauling.

“I hope his jumping is sharp enough, but he’s certainly a horse that we’ve got no idea where the bottom is and we like him a lot really.

“He’ll be a fabulous chaser next year, but I think he can be a good hurdler this year as well.

“This is a lovely race, it’s cut up in numbers but the quality is there I suppose and it’ll be interesting to see where we fit amongst these and give us a steer towards where we go in the spring.”

The other contender is the Joe Tizzard-trained Diamond Ri, who confirmed the promise of his debut second when winning at Warwick last month.

Lionel Messi returned to action for Inter Miami as he played the final 30 minutes of a pre-season friendly against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo.

Messi, who has been suffering with a hamstring injury, was an unused substitute as Inter Miami beat a Hong Kong XI 4-1 on Sunday, with local fans voicing their frustrations having turned up in numbers in expectation of seeing the eight-time Ballon D’Or winner in action.

David Beckham’s Major League Soccer side continued their pre-season build up in Japan and Argentina superstar Messi was able to resume training ahead of their latest friendly.

There was another injury worry for Miami, though, as midfielder Sergio Busquets was forced off with an ankle issue midway through the first half after being caught by a late tackle from Yuya Osako.

Just before half-time, Vissel forward Osako fired over from 10 yards in front of goal after Miami had lost possession when trying to playing out from the back.

The J1 League side went close again early in the second half when Brazil forward Jean Patric headed wide.

Messi came on for the final 30 minutes, replacing David Ruiz, and his introduction was met with loud cheers from fans all around the National Stadium.

Ryuho Kikuchi headed wide from a free-kick into the Miami penalty area, with Messi then forcing a late save from the Vissel goalkeeper and seeing his follow-up effort cleared off the line.

After the match finished goalless, the result was decided on a penalty shoot-out.

Vissel won 4-3 after Miami failed to convert any of their last three spot-kicks, with Messi not taking one.

Miami will now head back to the United States for a final warm-up match against Messi’s boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys in Fort Lauderdale.

The first match of the new MLS season is against Real Salt Lake on February 21.

Sean Bowen is looking to make up for lost time when he makes his return from a lengthy absence at Huntingdon on Thursday.

Bowen held a significant advantage over Harry Cobden before he suffered a nasty fall from Gordon Elliott’s Farren Glory in the Grade One Formby Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree on Boxing Day.

A problem with a knee has kept him on the sidelines since, and Cobden has whittled away at his advantage to such an extent that before racing on Wednesday the gap had been reduced to just four.

Bowen returns on Olly Murphy’s Roccovango in the Mulberry Developments Novices’ Handicap Hurdle.

“It’s been a long six weeks out of the saddle, and I really can’t wait to get back riding on Thursday,” said Coral ambassador Bowen.

“I don’t tend to watch much racing when I’m out of action, but I do watch James (brother) and support him, and I’ll always check the results to see how Olly’s horses have got on. It is always tough seeing the horses you’d have been on go out there and win, because even though you’re happy they’ve won, you always want to be the jockey to win on them.

“Harry has been riding right at the top of his game recently, and Paul’s (Nicholls) horses are also in great form, so I really need to get back riding winners if I want to be champion jockey, which make no mistake, I do!

“I’d much rather still have a comfortable lead, but the fact Harry is now breathing down my neck at the top of the championship has given me that extra bit of fire in my belly to want to get back out there and ride as many winners as I possibly can.

“It’s very much going to be a numbers game for me for the rest of the season, so wherever I think I have the best chance of riding a few winners is where I’ll be heading, regardless of the high-profile action that might be taking place elsewhere.”

He added of Roccovango: “He’s not a horse we know much about as he’ll be having his first start for Olly on Thursday, but he’d look potentially well-handicapped on some of his form in Ireland, so he goes there with a chance.

“I’d say we’ll have to go some to beat Harry Derham’s horse Nordic Tiger though, as he looks particularly well-in at the weights.”

Last year’s 1000 Guineas winner Mawj has been retired from racing.

The four-year-old provided trainer Saeed bin Suroor with his first British Classic success in 14 years when holding off Tahiyrah by half a length a thrilling finish to the Newmarket contest.

Her season was then interrupted by a setback, with the daughter of Exceed And Excel eventually returning to action to win the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Stakes at Keeneland in October before rounding off her three-year-old campaign with a nose defeat at the hands of fellow Godolphin runner Master Of The Seas in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Mawj disappointed on her return in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan last month and it has been decided to call time on her career, bowing out the winner of six of her 11 starts, with her juvenile highlight coming when claiming the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket.

Bin Suroor told www.godolphin.com: “Mawj is a very special filly, who showed her brilliance throughout her racing career. It was a fantastic day when she won the 1000 Guineas and I was especially pleased that it was her who provided me with my 500th Group race victory out in Keeneland.

“She proved herself against the best horses across the world, winning in Dubai, the UK and the United States as well as finishing second in a Breeders’ Cup Mile. Everyone at Al Quoz and Godolphin Stables is going to miss her but we look forward to the next stage of her life as a broodmare.”

It may be almost 20 years since his heartbreaking Champion Hurdle near miss, but Harchibald still holds a special place in the affections of his trainer Noel Meade.

Harchibald won 14 of his 48 career appearances and struck at the highest level on five occasions.

But the conclusion of his 2005 Cheltenham Festival defeat – where he loomed up large in the hands of ever-loyal pilot Paul Carberry before agonisingly falling a neck short of victory – remains the underlying memory of Harchibald’s storied career on the racecourse.

Retired in 2009 and now 25 years of age, Harchibald is enjoying life in Cork, but his old tutor is always keen to be updated on the well-being of his favourite pupil.

“He was a great horse to have and we enjoyed him. He’s still my favourite horse,” said Meade.

“He is down in Cork with the Hurleys. When he retired, we gave him to Johnny Hurley’s wife to ride in racehorse classes, which she did for a while, but he wasn’t that simple at it.

“So, they eventually retired him from that as well and he’s been living the life of luxury for the last number of years, being well looked after.

“I’ve seen him a couple of times since he’s retired, I haven’t been down there lately, but they let me know what’s happening with him.”

Harchibald was at his peak during the 2004-2005 season, when successful raids on Newcastle’s Fighting Fifth and the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton made him a prime candidate to land the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Sent off 7-1 behind joint-favourites Hardy Eustace (the defending champion) and Back In Front, Carberry was at his patient best when biding his time in the rear before beginning to smoothly move into contention on the run to two out.

What happened next has gone down in Festival folklore, as a motionless Carberry cruised alongside fellow hurdling greats Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca jumping the last and remained locked on the bridle as the trio edged their way up the lung-busting Cheltenham hill.

With the winning post approaching, Carberry remained static, as if a cat playing with his prey, but although he knew Harchibald better than most, when the time finally came to ask his mount to go on and win the Champion Hurdle, he was repelled by the tough-as-teak title holder.

“I suppose he is remarkable in that he is remembered more for being beaten than he was for winning,” said Meade.

“That Champion Hurdle defeat, people remember him for that more than anything else. But he was always a strong traveller in his races and jumped very well, which was a big thing.

“It is what it is and you often think about it again and think if something was done different, maybe he could have won. I always stood by Paul and still do – and he did what he thought was right on the day. It’s hard to watch now even.

“I was stood alongside Dessie Hughes and when they jumped the last, Dessie tapped me on the back and said well done – and of course his horse stayed on. The other two horses were very strong battlers, both Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca were very tough.”

It was en route to that famous reversal when Meade believed Harchibald was at his very best, reeling in former Champion Hurdle victor Rooster Booster to claim the first of two Christmas Hurdles he would win at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Meade added: “The time he beat Rooster Booster at Kempton, I was watching at Leopardstown and stood next to Frank Berry and Rooster Booster went half a furlong in front and we were watching it wondering were we going to get there – and of course we did. That was very exciting and one I remember well.

“I think that was the year he was at his peak, although extraordinary enough, his piece of work he did before the Champion Hurdle that year at Navan on very soft ground was very poor. It was about 10 or 12 days before the race, but on the good ground at Cheltenham, he was a different proposition.”

No Harchibald story is complete without a word for Carberry, the man who partnered the gelding more than other and perhaps the only one to eclipse Meade’s love of the brilliant bay hurdler.

Carberry was on board for Harchibald’s biggest victories, but also in some of his most cruel defeats and Meade will always remember the jockey’s answer to a question posed after the 8-11 favourite had failed to conquer Straw Bear in the 2007 Christmas Hurdle.

“Paul absolutely adored Harchibald, he just loved him,” said Meade.

“I will never forget when he got beat in the Christmas Hurdle by Straw Bear, with AP riding, and he was beaten a head.

“Paul never hit him and I wasn’t there, I was in Leopardstown, so the following day I said to him ‘would you not have hit him just once?’.

“And Paul looked at me, and there was a tear in his eye as he said ‘why would I hit him, he was doing his best’. I will never forget him saying that to me.

“He was very good on a flat track and Paul felt he just didn’t get home on a stiff track. He was very good at Newcastle and he was very good at Kempton.

“He won at both of those tracks twice and he won at Punchestown, which is flat enough too, he just struggled to get home when the track was a bit stiffer. He did win the International at Cheltenham though, which was a Grade Two.”

Harchibald would correct the record when winning the Christmas Hurdle for the second time in 2008, with his final career success followed by retirement in November the following year.

However, before time was called, Harchibald was given one start over fences, when he finished second to Sizing Europe, leaving his handler to wonder if connections should have pursued options over the larger obstacles sooner.

Meade said: “In the end, he did have one go over fences and I was always a bit worried about putting him over fences because he was so brave. But he jumped brilliant and I was a bit sorry we didn’t put him over fences earlier.

“He used to get a problem behind when he would run in soft and sticky ground, where he would pull a ligament behind and go lame on us, and that was always a problem. But it was probably a pity that we didn’t try him over fences earlier.”

A trip to the Cheltenham Festival remains under consideration for Golden Ace after she maintained her unbeaten record over hurdles with a facile success at Taunton.

Runner-up to Dysart Enos in the Grade Two mares’ bumper at Aintree last spring, Jeremy Scott’s new stable star made a successful transition to the jumping game at Taunton early in the new year.

Saddled with a mandatory penalty on her return to the Somerset circuit for the Stables Business Park Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, Golden Ace was the 1-2 favourite to follow up under Lorcan Williams and was not hard pressed in the slightest to score by two and a quarter lengths from Linda Moon.

The winner is a 10-1 shot with Paddy Power for the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham on March 14 – and while Scott raised the final of the Herring Queen Mares’ Novices Hurdle Series at Kelso on April 6 as an alternative, she would be a worthy runner at the Festival.

“We were slightly concerned about the ground,” Scott told Racing TV. “It was soft ground last time over two-miles-three and over two miles on lovely, good ground I just wondered whether she’d have the toe for it, but she seemed to have every bit of the toe.

“She got a bit keen part way round, she seems to travel well and her jumping is good, but will need to slicken up if we’re going on to bigger targets.

“We’ve got some fairly lofty ambitions for her and I hope she lives up to them. That (Cheltenham) was certainly the plan if everything went well, having said that the final of this race is a fabulously rich race and you wouldn’t rule that out, actually.”

Warren Greatrex will train Mighty Bandit for the Triumph Hurdle at next month’s Cheltenham Festival after he changed hands for €420,000 at Monday’s high-profile Tattersalls Ireland sale at Fairyhouse.

The four-year-old was one of 29 horses to go through the sales ring as part of a dispersal sale by prominent owners Andy and Gemma Brown following their shock decision to quit the sport late last month.

The top lot was the Grade One-winning Caldwell Potter, who is set to join Paul Nicholls after going under the hammer at €740,000, while the second, third and fourth top lots – Fil Dor (€620,000), Pied Piper (€570,000) and Staffordshire Knot (€510,000) – were all bought to return to Gordon Elliott.

Fifth on the list was Mighty Bandit, with Greatrex delighted to get his hands on him after he was bought by Jim and Claire Bryce, his landlords at the historic Rhonehurst yard in Lambourn.

“Everyone wants to train quality horses and he looks to have a very exciting profile,” he said.

“I’m so grateful to Jim and Claire. It was Jim who was pushing for this and the sale yesterday was unique really – I’ve never seen anything like it.

“Normally dispersal sales take place towards the end of horses’ careers, but the majority if not all of the horses sold yesterday are in their prime.

“It captured everyone’s imagination and we had a list of I think seven horses. We liked Fil Dor, but I think between all of us Mighty Bandit was the one we were very keen on because he’s only a four-year-old and we can make him, as it were, going forwards.”

The son of Order Of St George looked every inch a star juvenile in the making when winning on his hurdling debut for Elliott at Punchestown in November, but subsequently disappointed as a hot favourite for a Grade Two at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival.

However, Greatrex revealed there was a valid reason for that below-par performance and hopes he can show his true colours in the spring.

He added: “He was mightily impressive on his first run, the way he quickened up for a horse that had never run before, it’s very exciting when you see that.

“He scoped dirty after Leopardstown at Christmas and Gordon had told us that he’d also tinkered with his epiglottis, which is something quite common.

“Their thinking was that they were going to aim for the Triumph Hurdle, so as long as everything is good and we’re happy with him that’s where he’ll go.”

With the Festival only five weeks ago, Greatrex admits he is not going to have time to give Mighty Bandit another run before Cheltenham, meaning his preparation will have to take place in Lambourn.

“You would obviously like to see him on the track first, but if Gordon was aiming him for the Triumph he obviously rated him highly and I’m not going to change anything,” he said.

“I think it would be more beneficial to give him time to settle in and go there – and if Cheltenham does come a bit soon, then we’ve got Aintree to roll on to after if we want to.

“He’s only a four-year-old and he’s going to have a very bright future, hopefully, so I will try to do him justice.”

Mighty Bandit was not the only horse from the dispersal who will make the switch from Elliott to Greatrex, with Tactical Affair snapped up for a slightly less eyewatering sum of €62,000.

The five-year-old has won once and placed twice from five starts so far and he too could have Cheltenham on his radar as Greatrex, who trained Stayers’ Hurdle hero Cole Harden and two other Grade One winners in One Track Mind and La Bague Au Roi, looks to get himself back into the big time.

Greatrex added: “All being well, we’ll aim Tactical Affair at the Martin Pipe (Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle).

“I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think at €62,000 he was probably very well bought as he’s only a five-year-old and hasn’t had many runs and has a good pedigree.

“It’s very exciting. Everyone knows that I’ve had a few quiet years, but they’ve been going well this year and last year and we want to be back at the top table. Hopefully these with one or two others might get us back there.

“It is tough and we’ve seen in the last couple of years that Ireland are dominating. That’s fair enough and it goes in swings and roundabouts, I think.

“I’ve been there and proved that I can do it in England and in Ireland – I think I’m still the only Grade One-winning British trainer at the Dublin Racing Festival.

“We’ve proved if we get the ammunition we can do it and once you’ve tasted it you want to get back there, so we’ll do what we can to do just that.”