Nico de Boinville to ride Might Bite in Betfair Chase rematch with Native River

Nico de Boinville will ride Might Bite in his highly anticipated Cheltenham Gold Cup rematch with Native River in Saturday's Betfair Chase at Haydock after he got the all-clear from his specialist.

Might Bite and Native River are two of the five runners in a select but stellar renewal, with last year's winner Bristol De Mai, Thistlecrack and Clan Des Obeaux completing the field.

De Boinville, who won the 2015 Gold Cup on the Mark Bradstock-trained Coneygree, had been on the sidelines with an injured thumb sustained in a fall at Chepstow last month.

He is set to return to the saddle at Ascot on Friday and will continue his longstanding association with Might Bite in the £200,000 chase on Saturday, having ridden him on 13 of his 16 starts.

De Boinville has enjoyed four Grade 1 wins aboard Might Bite, who is evens with the race sponsors for the Betfair Chase, which is the first leg of the £1 million Jockey Club Chase Triple Crown.

He said: “I’m delighted I’ve been passed fit by my specialist and the BHA have given me the all-clear this morning.

“My medical team and the BHA have been brilliant. A hand is never ideal for a jockey, and a specific problem with a thumb perhaps even more so, but we got a cast on it as quickly as we could, and everyone was delighted when it came off on Wednesday."

De Boinville added in his Unibet blog: "In common with all jockeys, I’m not a good watcher from the stands or on tv, but at least the absence sharpens the hunger ever more, and it’s a big relief to be back in time to ride the stable’s big artillery like Might Bite at Haydock at the weekend, and Altior in the Tingle Creek, to name just two."

Might Bite's trainer Nicky Henderson shared the satisfaction in De Boinville's return to action.

Henderson said: "I’m delighted Nico is back – obviously the sooner the better, but we were covered for the weekend anyway if he wasn’t fit.

"That was the important thing, to make sure Might Bite was covered."

The Seven Barrows trainer added: “Of course it's useful to have a rider who knows Might Bite so well, but Noel came in to school him on Monday anyway.

“Noel was an excellent option to have because we have runners everywhere and the other boys were going to be at Ascot and places like that.

“We’ve got good deputies who have done very well. I’m delighted he [Nico] is back, but Jerry and James and the boys have been doing sterling work.”

Native River is the 5-2 second favourite with Betfair and last year's wide-margin winner Bristol De Mai is 7-1.

Barry Orr, spokesman for the sponsors, said: "We'd hoped the main protagonists would stand their ground and we’ve not been disappointed.

"With prevailing conditions appearing to suit Might Bite he is the clear favourite at even money, but the Gold Cup winner Native River is very strong at 5-2.

"Last year’s winner Bristol De Mai is the weakest in the betting and is now 7-1 from 5-2.

"There may be only five runners but it’s certainly one of the highest-quality renewals in our 14-year sponsorship."

Noel Fehily had been lined up as a replacement had De Boinville failed to recover.

Fehily was stood down by the racecourse medical officer at Chepstow on Wednesday but will be back in action with four rides at Market Rasen on Thursday.

Recent impressive Cheltenham winner First Assignment is one of eight declared runners in the Betfair Stayers' Handicap Hurdle at Haydock and is 11-10 favourite with the firm.

Members can read the latest exclusive interviews, news analysis and comment available from 6pm daily on racingpost.com