Might Bite 25-1 to take chasing triple crown as JCR puts up £1m bonus again

Might Bite has been made 25-1 favourite to land Jockey Club Racecourses' £1 million bonus offered to any horse who completes the 2018-19 chasing triple crown.

Last season's King George winner and Gold Cup second would need to go one better at Cheltenham and also take the Betfair Chase to land the odds offered by Paddy Power.

The firm go 12-1 that any horse completes the treble, with Gold Cup hero Native River a 33-1 chance, the 2017 Gold Cup scorer Sizing John and Thistlecrack at 50-1 and Haydock specialist Bristol De Mai at 100-1.

JCR's announcement it will offer the prize for a fourth straight year comes less than two weeks after Weatherbys Hamilton, sponsor of the Lonsdale Cup, paid out a £1m bonus for Flat stayers to Stradivarius following his victory in the York Group 2 on the back of earlier wins in the Yorkshire Cup, the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and the Goodwood Cup.

The chasing triple crown bonus, which was originally offered by Betfair from 2005 to 2010 when Kauto Star won it, was reintroduced by JCR in 2015. In the very first year Cue Card won the first two legs – the Betfair Chase (at Haydock in November) and the 32Red King George VI Chase (at Kempton on Boxing Day) – only to fall when in contention for the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup (at Cheltenham next March). The three races have been won by different horses since.

The £1m bonus, covered by an insurance premium paid for by JCR's marketing budget, would be awarded on top of individual race prize-money and shared between winning owners (65 per cent), trainer (15 per cent), staff at the training yard (ten per cent) and jockey (ten per cent). Connections would also receive the Kauto Star Trophy.

Stradivarius lands the million pound bonus for Flat stayers with victory in the Lonsdale CupCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Paul Fisher, chief executive of JCR, said: "In six of the last ten years a top chaser has won two of the three legs of the triple crown.

"We all know it would take a very special racehorse to win all three of those Grade 1s in the same season, but Kauto Star proved it’s possible and we all remember how close Cue Card came more recently.

"I hope the challenge will prove attractive to connections this season and I look forward to the Betfair Chase, 32Red King George VI Chase and the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup proving thrilling contests for jumps fans. It would be a great story for our sport if it could be won."

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