Nicky Henderson has suffered a devastating blow after Shishkin, one of the stars of his stable, died following a tragic accident.
Shishkin, a beautiful chaser who had won a clutch of jump racing’s biggest prizes, was due to head to Ireland for the Punchestown festival on Monday: his target was the Punchestown Gold Cup where he was set to clash with the all-conquering Galopin Des Champs.
But Shishkin was found to have been cast in his box at Henderson’s Seven Barrows stables on Sunday evening – this means a horse has got stuck when lying down and become unable to get up – and suffered irreparable damage to a hind leg when trying to extricate himself.
Owned by Joe and Marie Donnelley, in whose yellow and black silks he had graced the biggest events at Cheltenham, Aintree, Ascot and beyond, the impact of losing Shishkin will be colossal on Henderson, who had come out of the weekend on cloud nine.
He had seen Fantastic Lady and Jonbon land huge prizes on the final domestic afternoon of the jumps campaign and was confident “Shish” – as Henderson affectionately called him – could maintain the feel-good factor.
Cheltenham Festival winner Shishkin has died after a tragic accident in his stable
Trainer Nicky Henderson issued a statement on X calling the racehorse a ‘friend and warrior’
But in a post on Twitter, Henderson reported: ‘Tragically we’ve lost Shishkin this evening after he got cast in his stable and fractured his hind leg.
‘Everyone involved with Seven Barrows, particularly his owners, Joe and Marie Donnelly, Jaydon [Lee, Shishkin’s groom], Nico [de Boinville] and George [Daly, Henderson’s assistant] are obviously devastated that such a great horse, friend and warrior has gone.
‘He was due to leave for Punchestown tomorrow morning but sadly this is now not to be. He was an absolute superstar and his CV is testament to that – except the King George is not in it even though we believe it should have been.
‘The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the Arkle were his Cheltenham highlights, but the battle with Energumene in the Clarence House at Ascot was probably his greatest.
‘This is a very sad night. He was our star and we will never forget him. Thank you Shishkin for the wonderful memories.’
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