Cheltenham here we come!
(945) W De Best-Turner 7 9-6 Aaron Jones (3) (22) W Knight 3 9-5 ............................ A Kirby (15) R J Smith 3 9-5 ............................................. R Tate Miss G Kelleway 3 9-5 ..................... Fran Berry (73) Ed Walker 3 9-5 (BF) ................ L Keniry (15) P McEntee 3 9-5 ......... Nicola Currie (7) (11) T McCarthy 4 9-1 ........................... R Havlin (15) P Hiatt 4 9-1 ............................ W Carson Mrs L Pearce 3 9-0 ............................ S Pearce BETTING: 13-8 Paradise Lake, 9-4 Deliberator, 4 Swiss Vinnare, 10 Elite Treaty, 12 Peters Folly, 16 Uptown Girl, 25 Duhr, 50 Annabella, 66 Nelson’s Hill.
13-8fav Difficult loading, dwelt, keen and soon in touch, headway on outside chasing leading pair and switched left over 2f out, went 2nd towards finish and closed, always held, 2nd of 9, nk behind Spanish History at Windsor 1m mdn stks (5) gd in Oct. 7-1 Tracked leader, led over 2f out, headed inside final furlong, kept on one pace, 3rd of 11, 3l behind Mordin at Lingfield 1m mdn stks (5) pol. 20-1 Dwelt headway on outer to lead over 8f out, ridden and headed 2f out, kept on one pace, lost 2nd close home, 3rd of 9, 4l behind Dash Of Spice at Lingfield 1m 2f mdn stks (5) pol. Mawatheeq gelding out of Silver Elite. 66-1 Held up, pushed along and headway over 1f out, kept on, never nearer, 6th of 13, 18l behind Humbert at Kempton 1m mdn stks (5) pol. Doncaster Rover filly out of Mon Petit Diamant.
66-1 Keen held up towards rear, ridden 2f out, never on terms, 7th of 9, 9l behind Dash Of Spice at Lingfield 1m 2f mdn stks (5) pol. 50-1 Pulled hard, mid-division on inside, rider having saddle problems over 4f out, both irons kicked out over 2f out, well beaten after, 9th of 10, 16l behind Cookie Ring at Chelmsford City 1m hcp 0-50 (7) pol. 66-1 Led until 2f out, soon ridden, struggling when lost 2nd over 1f out, weakened final furlong, 6th of 11, 19l behind Intrude at Lingfield 1m mdn stks (5) pol in May ‘15. Nico de Boinville celebrates after he rode Might Bite to win The 32Red King George VI Steeple Chase at Kempton Park MIGHT BITE advanced his Cheltenham Gold Cup claims when laying to rest his Kempton demons with victory in the 32Red King George VI Chase.
After suffering a final-fence fall in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at the track 12 months ago, the eight-yearold gained deserved compensation to complete a Grade One double for trainer Nicky Henderson, who had earlier won the Christmas Hurdle with Buveur D’Air.
Close to the pace throughout, Might Bite (6-4 favourite) hit the front rounding the home turn before digging deep after the last to hold off the challenge of Double Shuffle by a length, with Tea For Two a further two lengths adrift in third.
Henderson said: “He is good to watch. You could enjoy watching horses like him all day and night.
“He loves all the showmanship that goes with it and he likes to jump like that and boss it and say, ‘Look at me.’ The nice thing was that he handled the ground.
“We have our little scheme which is try not to press before the last. Don’t let him know that is the last then you can go for your life after it.
“They (owners, the Knot Again Partnership) are a real fun team of mates. It is very special for us to get a horse like this and they deserve it.”
All roads for Might Bite now lead towards the Cheltenham Gold Cup, for which he was cut from 6-1 into 5-1 by Coral.
Henderson added: “The next question is what we do next. We will probably have another run.
“It won’t be a slog in a bog, wherever it is. If it froze up until March 16 that wouldn’t bother me
“Now we have got to behave ourselves at Cheltenham. Cheltenham is a different ball game and he will probably want to go right.”
Winning jockey Nico de Boinville was full of praise for Might Bite. He said: “He jumped the last as if he had plenty left.
“If something had come at him I think he’d have gone again.”