NICO FIT FOR LEG-UP ON MIGHT BITE
NICO de Boinville will ride Might Bite in his clash with Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Native River tomorrow.
The jockey has been sidelined with a thumb injury sustained in a fall at Chepstow almost a month ago.
Noel Fehily had been on standby to pilot the horse in the Betfair Chase at Haydock.
But after being locked in a race against time to prove his fitness, De Boinville has been passed fit and will be on board when last season’s King George winner bids to turn the tables on his Cheltenham Gold Cup conqueror Native River.
The latter is trained by Colin Tizzard and will be ridden by champion jockey Richard Johnson.
Tizzard, who won the Betfair Chase three times with Cue Card, has a second string to his bow in Thistlecrack, who will make his first appearance since finishing fourth behind Might Bite when defending his King George crown at Kempton on Boxing Day of last year.
The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Bristol De Mai was a 57-length winner of last year’s Betfair Chase – albeit in far more testing conditions than he will encounter on his return to Merseyside – and adds further strength in depth to a small but select field of just five runners.
The line-up is completed by Clan Des Obeaux, who bids to provide Paul Nicholls with a seventh Betfair Chase success.
The Ditcheat maestro saddled Kauto Star to win the race four times and also struck twice with Silviniaco Conti.
Clan Des Obeaux appears for the first time since finishing third behind Might Bite at Aintree in the spring.
Tomorrow’s feature is the first leg of the Jockey Club Chase Triple Crown, with Jockey Club Racecourses offering a £1million bonus for any horse who can win the Betfair Chase, the King George VI Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup this season.
The bonus will be awarded alongside the Kauto Star Trophy, named in honour of the great chaser who achieved the feat in 2006/7.
Cue Card famously won the first two legs before falling three fences from home in the Cheltenham 2016 Gold Cup.