King of Kempton Might Bite romps to King George win
Favourite easily holds off 50-1 shot in King George Henderson says chaser has ‘huge sex appeal’
Straightforward is not a description that would apply to two of the three Grade One chases Might Bite had contested before yesterday’s 32Red King George VI Chase but Kempton Park’s Christmas feature could not have gone more like clockwork for the 6-4 favourite.
Finishing a length clear of 50-1 shot Double Shuffle may not have overly impressed the Handicapper or bookmakers, who largely left him unchanged at 6-1 for the Gold Cup, but the margin flattered the runner-up as Might Bite seemed to idle up the home straight after leading four out.
Certainly, Nico de Boinville, the winning jockey, never appeared much concerned by the proximity of the runner-up, or by Tea For Two, who put up a seasonal best in finishing two lengths back in third, just ahead of last year’s winner, Thistlecrack.
For much of the race, the lead flip-flopped between Bristol De Mai, the second favourite, and Might Bite, whose jumping was spectacular as he gave some fences three foot all round. But either Nigel Twiston-davies’s grey chaser needs a proper bog to show his best or he left his King George somewhere in Haydock’s November mud, because he folded quickly five out and finished a tame sixth.
Might Bite is owned by a 10-person syndicate, which includes trainer Nicky Henderson’s sister, Josie, and the remnants of the original My Tent Or Yours and Bobs Worth syndicates, and provided the trainer with a third King George.
“He’s good to watch,” said Henderson. “After the days of Sprinter Sacre, he has huge sex appeal. He loves the showmanship and to boss it and say ‘look at me’. He’s a good horse and a beautiful one, he’s very showy and was just enjoying himself.
“He handled the ground, and our little scheme [he fell at the last in the Kauto Star last year] was not to let him know it’s the last fence, but I could see he had a very good stride to it and Nico had him in his hands.
“What happened here last year was one of those things, but Cheltenham’s a different ball game – he’s got to behave there [he tried to duck back to the paddock in last season’s RSA]. He’ll probably want to go right at the last again. He’ll have to go there, but what we do in between is another question. It won’t be a slog in a bog.”
De Boinville said: “I think he was idling and if something had come to him he’d have gone again. He kept jumping himself there the whole time so it was just a case of keeping it simple.”
Knot Again syndicate manager Simon Philip, chairman of Kent County Cricket Club, said: “I sat watching the rain fall last night thinking our chances were drifting away. He hates this ground but it shows he goes on it. He’s come a long way since his first chase when it looked like he’d never seen a fence in his life. When your first runner as an owner is at Folkestone and you end up here on Boxing Day and become part of the story of this great race, it’s a huge privilege.”
Thistlecrack ran much better than he had on his comeback at Newbury. Although looking much trimmer, based on last year’s form with Tea For Two, it may be that he still needed the run.
His stable companion Fox Norton, however, was pulled up, while Whisper, a well-beaten fifth, was either missing Davy Russell or was still feeling the effects of a hard race at Newbury.
The win, combined with the victory of a very slick Buveur d’air in the Unibet Christmas Hurdle, propelled Henderson to the top of the trainers’ championship, ahead of Paul Nicholls.
However, Nicholls won the Kauto Star Novice Chase with Black Corton, on whom Bryony Frost became the second female jockey to win the Grade One chase, two years after Lizzie Kelly.