Talking Horses: Energumene and Shishkin can stage a race for the ages

There is so much that could go wrong even between Monday morning and Saturday that it feels reckless to suggest it, but it is increasingly likely that the Clarence House Chase at Ascot this weekend could be that rarest of races over jumps: a season-defining, perhaps even an era-defining, contest which will unfold with something other than Cleeve Hill at Cheltenham as the backdrop.

Shishkin and Energumene, the outstanding two-mile chasers in the UK and Ireland respectively, both stood their ground for Saturday’s Grade One at the five-day stage on Monday morning. First Flow, last year’s winner and something of an Ascot specialist, remains a potential runner too and if all three go to post, we could well see the best jumps race outside the Festival since Moscow Flyer beat Azertyuiop and Well Chief in the 2004 Tingle Creek.

As was also the case at Sandown 18 years ago, Shishkin and Energumene will be meeting for the first time if they line up on Saturday, but unlike the main protagonists in 2004 – who took the Arkle Trophy in 2002, 2003 and 2004 respectively – they are both eight-year-old, second-season chasers. Energumene was scratched from last season’s Arkle just a few days before the Festival, and bitterly disappointing though that was at the time, a 10-month delay has only increased the anticipation.

Bookmakers – and, presumably, punters – seem fairly confident that Shishkin will emerge in front when the two horses finally meet. Nicky Henderson’s chaser is chalked up at a top price of 8-15 for Saturday’s race with Energumene – who would be racing outside Ireland for the first time - on 9-4. In the Champion Chase betting, meanwhile, Shishkin is 11-10 to follow up his Arkle win at the Festival in March, with Energumene on