Fehily on standby for Might Bite Betfair Chase ride if De Boinville is ruled out

Noel Fehily will partner Might Bite in Saturday's Betfair Chase at Haydock if regular rider Nico de Boinville fails to recover from a thumb injury.

De Boinville has been aboard Might Bite for most of the leading chaser's career, but was hurt at Chepstow on October 30 and has been on the sidelines since.

He will see a specialist on Wednesday, but Nicky Henderson, who trains the son of Scorpion for The Knot Again Partnership, will turn to Fehily if De Boinville is unable to take the ride.

Watch: Might Bite v Native River in the Gold Cup

The champion trainer revealed the news on Monday night on his Unibet blog after Fehily had schooled the strapping nine-year-old.

Henderson said: "Noel came and schooled Might Bite on our new carpet schooling ground this 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."

Might Bite is a generally even-money shot to land the Betfair Chase, while Native River, who denied him in an epic Gold Cup in March, is next best at 100-30 with the sponsors.

Barry Geraghty and Daryl Jacob have also ridden last year's King George VI Chase winner, who was last seen winning the Bowl in impressive fashion at Aintree in April.

Fehily, who won a Champion Hurdle for Henderson on Buveur D'Air in 2017, also stood in for De Boinville during Seven Barrows stable star Altior's novice chase campaign.

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