Haydock got their fences right – Nico

JOCKEY Nico de Boinville heaped praise on officials at Haydock after steering Mr Whipped to his first victory over fences yesterday.

The Merseyside venue drew criticism during last month’s Betfair Chase meeting due to the height and stiffness of the fences that had been built ahead of the high-profile fixture.

Six horses fell and another unseated their rider across the four races over the larger obstacles and one of those fallers was the Nicky Henderson-trained River Wylde, who looked the likely winner when suffering a heavy fall under De Boinville at the final obstacle in a graduation chase.

River Wylde’s esteemed stablemate Might Bite disappointed in the Betfair Chase itself later in the afternoon, after which Henderson said: “They have built us some big fences here today, it’s not the first one of mine that has been caught out.”

Yesterday the fences had been reduced in height by “between two and three inches” and some of the birch had been removed to ensure they were not as stiff. And De Boinville expressed his satisfaction after Mr Whipped jumped neatly on his way to an assured success in the Liverpool University Thoroughbred Horseracing Industries MBA Novices’ Chase.

He told Racing UK: “I’d like to thank Haydock and say they’ve done a fantastic job today.

“They’ve listened to whatever was said on that Saturday, and to bounce back and put on a show like they have today has been absolutely fantastic.

“They’ve cut the fences down. They’re still formidable and take a bit of jumping, but they’ve thinned them out and there’s a bit of give in there.”

Mr Whipped was the 8-11 favourite after finishing a closeup third on his fencing debut at Cheltenham and was always doing enough to see off market rival Springtown Lake by a length and three-quarters.

Another horse who looks sure to go on to bigger and better things is The Big Bite, who completely outclassed his rivals in the Watch Racing UK In Stunning HD ‘Introductory’ Hurdle.

Eleventh in last season’s Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, Tom George’s charge made a smart start to his hurdling career at Chepstow and justified prohibitive odds of 1-2 when following up by 19 lengths from Demopolis.

“He’s never been in front like that before, so it’s been a big learning curve for him,” said George.