Talking Horses: Might Bite set to bounce back in the King George

Wednesday’s best bets, by Chris Cook

There’s no creature of habit like a racehorse trainer and this reflection gives me hope that Might Bite can bounce back when we next see him and either win the King George or go close to it. Yes, he was disappointing in Saturday’s Betfair Chase but it seems relevant to me that he is Nicky Henderson’s fourth beaten favourite in that race, which the Lambourn man has never won.

The most recent of those four was Bobs Worth, back in 2013. He went to Haydock unbeaten for 21 months, having landed the Hennessy and the Cheltenham Gold Cup the previous season, but he fared as poorly in the Betfair as Might Bite, trailing home in sixth, 40 lengths behind Cue Card. The track’s speed-favouring nature was said to be against him but Barry Geraghty added: “He’ll be sharper and will have benefited from it.”

Long Run was favourite for the previous two Betfairs. Though he couldn’t win the race, he ran to a high level each time, chasing home Kauto Star in 2011 and Silviniaco Conti in 2012.

What interests me is how these horses fared next time out, having run below market expectations at Haydock. Long Run couldn’t turn the form around with Kauto Star at Kempton but he got a lot closer to him, being beaten just a length and a quarter in the King George by one of the greatest chasers there ever was. The next year, he bounced back from his reappearance defeat at Haydock to win the King George.

Bobs Worth also fared much better next time. Stuffed in the Betfair, he went to Ireland a month later and won the Lexus, a performance about two stones better than his Haydock effort.

Might Bite, Henderson’s first runner in the Betfair since Bobs Worth, looked like the second coming of Sprinter Sacre in the paddock on Saturday but didn’t seem to enjoy those stiff fences and tired badly in the last quarter-mile. Nothing has been found to be amiss with him, we are told, and so the likeliest explanation for me is that he just wasn’t quite as ready as the others in the field.

As ever, his trainer’s main focus is on the King George and, beyond that, Cheltenham in March. Surely the likely outcome is that Might Bite will put up a much improved showing at Kempton next month and the 4-1 is tempting for me.

Marginally bigger at 5-1 is Smackwater Jack (1.15) for a novice hurdle at Wetherby today. Olly Murphy’s four-year-old was travelling like the wrath of God on his hurdles debut at Aintree a fortnight ago when he appeared to clip heels shortly after the second-last and fell.

That makes for an unpromising form figure but anyone who saw it would be expecting him to put up a big effort next time and the step back in trip might be a good idea. By the by, he would have won his bumper at Fakenham in April, but for jinking near the line, so I’m hoping he has now run out of ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Wetherby 12.15 Alexanderthegreat 12.45 Whin Park 1.15 Smackwater Jack 1.50 The Very Thing 2.20 Special Catch 2.50 Global Ruler 3.25 Peaceful Valley
Hereford 12.35 Kilmoganny 1.05 Dr Sanderson 1.35 Wenceslaus 2.05 Danny Whizzbang 2.35 Shambra 3.05 Dontminddboys 3.40 At Its Own Expense
Wolverhampton 1.45 Isabella Red 2.15 Ophelia's Dream 2.45 Firebird Song 3.20 Grandee Daisy 3.55 Stand N Deliver 4.30 Graffiti Master 5.00 Charlie D (nap) 5.30 Jorvik Prince (nb)
Newcastle 3.15 Tundra 3.45 Alexa Rose 4.15 Fabiolla 4.45 Geography Teacher 5.15 Harry George 5.45 Sandstream 6.15 Ballyquin 6.45 Eternal Sun

There’s 12-1 available about Special Catch (2.20), which might be on the big side about the old man of this two-mile handicap chase. His best form has been on a sound surface and he gets that today for the first time in 19 months, during which time his handicap mark has come down to an attractive level.

He has a good record when fresh and I’m prepared to take a chance on Ruth Jefferson having him ready here.

The nap runs at Wolves, where Charlie D (5.00) is 5-2 to follow up on his course and distance win from last month. Later, 10-1 is interesting about Jorvik Prince (5.30), whose mark has dropped 11lb since March while claimers have been riding him. Tony Hamilton tries his luck this time.