Mercurial Might Bite out to become a Future Star at Sandown
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023
Might Bite is a best-priced 10-1 for the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup. (PA)
By Racinguk.com staff
Might Bite faces just three opponents on his eagerly anticipated return to action in the Future Stars Intermediate Chase at Sandown on Sunday.
Nicky Henderson's eight-year-old was the dominant force in the staying novice division over fences last term, recovering from a heavy fall at Kempton over Christmas to win the RSA Chase at Cheltenham in remarkable circumstances.
Nico de Boinville's partner almost threw away the race when he badly lost his concentration after the final fence, but he recovered late on to defeat stablemate Whisper by a nose.
Might Bite's brilliance was better advertised when he followed up in the Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree and he now reappears at Sandown in a race won by Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Coneygree in 2015.
Henderson said: "He's in good form, his work has been good and he schooled well. We're very happy with him. This is a 'get-ready race' rather than D-day, but it's a nice starting point."
Might Bite's exploits on the racecourse have endeared him to racegoers and punters alike, and he has won four of his last five starts. He is not as mercurial on the Seven Barrows gallops, however.
Speaking on Racing UK's Luck On Sunday programme Henderson added:
"He’s more entertaining on a racecourse than he is at home.
"I can’t deny he can be unpredictable and will always make life interesting. He’s very straightforward at home.
"He jumped five fences at home on Thursday and was great and his work has been good.
"The obvious thing to do was to go to the Betfair Chase at Haydock.
"The tricks he does have in his vocabulary though he wants treated with kid gloves and it has to go right today.
"You would have to have him very wound up and it is a nicer place to start. If you are going for the [Jockey Club] million pounds [bonus] you have to win at Haydock.
There is no point going in to that as a prep race, as what is the point?"
Should Might Bite come through his comeback run unscathed, his likely next port of call is the King George VI Chase at Kempton, for which he is the general 7-2 favourite.
While he would appear to face a relatively straightforward task in the Sandown Listed contest, Henderson is taking nothing for granted, adding: "He did get beaten on his first run at Ffos Las last year!"
Paul Nicholls saddles Frodon and As De Mee, while Label Des Obeaux from Alan King's yard completes the quartet.
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