Noel Fehily is being lined up as a possible replacement for Nico de Boinville aboard Might Bite in Saturday’s Betfair Chase.

The Nicky Henderson charge is usually saddled by stable jockey De Boinville, who injured his thumb in a fall at Chepstow in the week.

A seriously impressive season for Might Bite two years ago was followed by a campaign with less activity, but no significant drop in performance. The nine-year-old was victorious in three of four races.

The blip was the Cheltenham Gold Cup, where Native River romped home to win ahead of the second placed Might Bite.

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And, of course, who else should Might Bite face in the Betfair Chase but Native River?

However, De Boinville may need Fehily to step in at the last moment. Whilst nothing has been decided as of Tuesday, Henderson has been quoted as saying:

We entered Might Bite for the Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday and hope that Nico de Boinville will be fit to ride, but in the event that he is not passed fit by the doctor, we have taken the provisional measure and booked Noel Fehily to take the reins if necessary.

Nico is going to be assessed on Wednesday so we won’t know until then at the very earliest and Jerry McGrath will be on duty for us at Ascot. Noel came and schooled Might Bite on our new carpet schooling ground this (Monday) morning and was very pleased. His exact words were, ‘That was a very nice way to start the week!’.

I’ve never seen him jump so well and, barring mishap, the intention is very much to run.

Alongside Native River and Bristol de Mai, Might Bite is currently joint-favourite for the Kempton classic.

Who have you got winning the Betfair Chase?

Might Bite

Native River

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