Might Bite rallies late on to snatch RSA Chase from Whisper's clutches
Thursday 1 February 2018 14:54, UK
Might Bite produced a simply astounding victory for Nicky Henderson and Nico de Boinville in the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
The eight-year-old, sent off 7/2 favourite, attempted to make all the running in the three-miler but he made a bad mistake at the last and started to wander towards the stand, almost stopping to a walk at one point on the run-in.
Stable companion Whisper (9/2) came through to take the lead but his appearance seemed to wake up Might Bite, who rallied and somehow got back up on the line by a nose.
Such was the excitement of the finish, ITV commentator Richard Hoiles came up with the wonderful line "Might Bite might just have snatched defeat and then victory from the jaws of both!"
Bellshill finished in third place at 5/1 as Willie Mullins continued his winless start to the Festival.
De Boinville said: "He did exactly the same in his hurdles run around here, the same thing happened. Without the loose horse I wouldn't have won. He's a thinker but he's so talented, he jumped for fun - he should have five or 10 lengths.
"It's great for the owners and great for guv'nor, he's having a great time of it. I kept faith with this horse, I can see why others might not!
"We'll see (if he is a Gold Cup horse), we might have to iron out a few issues, but he's definitely got the ability."
Henderson said: "What to make of it all? It just goes to show why you run two horses in a race.
"You thought he'd done it all well and then he goes and does that. If you go back a couple of seasons when he came here as a novice over hurdles, he did exactly the same thing.
"Davy (Russell) has done everything right on Whisper. You could always see him creeping in there. You thought Might Bite might have got away, then Might Bite said 'come on'.
"It looked for all the world that he (Might Bite) had thrown it away. A dead-heat would have been fair to everybody, but it wouldn't have been, really, because Might Bite was the best horse.
"It was extraordinary. He's only a baby but he's hugely talented. He just grinds it out and keeps going, but then he stops and has an ice cream!
"He's handled the undulations, the place and the crowd, which wasn't guaranteed. We must be aware of it (his wayward streak) in the future. He's not naughty, or anything like that, but the future is obviously enormous."
