Might Bite and Whisper (right)© Photo Healy Racing
Nicky Henderson reports Might Bite to be excelling in his schooling work at home ahead of his bid to claim more top-level glory in the Betway Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree today.
After coming through a confidence booster at Doncaster following a last-fence fall at Kempton on Boxing Day, the eight-year-old claimed his first Grade One success when defeating stablemate Whisper in dramatic fashion in the RSA at the Cheltenham Festival.
With the pair set to lock horns again in the three-mile Grade One affair, the Seven Barrows handler feels the son of Scorpion is in good order ahead of their rematch.
Henderson said: "He's good. The boys that ride him at home say he feels great. He jumped five fences with Nico (de Boinville) the other day. He was really good."
Might Bite looked to have done all the hard work in the RSA before hanging dramatically to his right, giving Whisper another chance before being gathered up by De Boinville to just get the nod in a photo.
"Nobody really knows what happened with Might Bite at Cheltenham, but he clearly has a grouch with the final jump as he did exactly the same thing at the last at the same course over hurdles; I think he just loses concentration," Henderson added in his Stan James.com blog.
"In an ideal world I would like to step in two out and throw a pair of cheekpieces on him for the rest of the race but I'd probably struggle to catch up with him so I'm leaving it all up to Nico!
"It's a small field so it looks as though we'll have to make it but hopefully he'll have learnt from the Cheltenham experience and understand how he would have a much easier race had he not decided to say hello to everyone in the stands."
Connections of Whisper are hoping he can reverse the form and claim a third top-level victory at the Merseyside track having landed back-to-back victories in the Liverpool Hurdle in 2014 and 2015.
Owner Dai Walters said: "I personally thought we had won last time. The other horse only won it because of the loose horse. He didn't jump the first three well in the RSA and that could have cost him the race as well
"They schooled him last week and he jumped well. He probably would prefer it a bit softer I would think.
"He has won two Liverpool Hurdles so he does have a good record there. There was nothing else for him so we have got to try our luck against Might Bite again.
"I have been more lucky here than at Cheltenham recently and anything can happen in horse racing.
"He is a good horse and it is great seeing him come back again, as some of them never do."
While form figures suggest Virgilio has it all to do to topple the Henderson pair, jockey Harry Skelton, who will partner the eight-year-old trained by his brother Dan, hopes a return to Aintree, where he is two from three, can work in his favour.
Skelton said: "He is going there a fresh horse. This has been the plan since Boxing Day (Kauto Star Novices' Chase) and he has had a nice break and is going there on some nice ground.
"We are under no illusions we are taking on some very good horses, but he will like the ground and he goes well there. He just likes it there as it is a flat track and that suits him."
The five-runner field is completed by the Nigel Twiston-Davies Calett Mad and Marinero from the yard of Henry de Bromhead.
