Might Bite has been the one taking of the hype in the antepost market for the RSA Chase, arguably one of the most difficult races at the Cheltenham Festival. It is a tough race and it has bred future Gold Cup winners of course such as Arkle and Lord Windermere who had previously taken a win in the RSA Chase. It is always a competitive field out of the RSA Chase and across all the races at the Cheltenham Festival 2017, the RSA may ultimately prove the toughest one to call.
Might Bite ran twice in Grade 2 races last season at Cheltenham and disappointed in both. But this season he has been going along much better although in his high profile run in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on December 26th, he was denied his first Grade 1 victory when he took a tumble at the final fence. In his return to action after that, he eased to a victory in nothing more than a mismatch training sessions of a race, but Nicky Henderson’s Might Bite may well describe his charges season over the fences as ‘encouraging’.
He has proven his quality in lower grade races, but even though Daryl Jacob couldn’t get one final jump out of him at Kempton, it hasn’t stopped punters recognising what he had done in the preceding two-and-three-quarter miles of the race. He was dominant and he has had his admirers because of that, the shortening of odds tells the tale there. But he has never won a Grade 1 race and the RSA Chase is tough and there are some serious challengers in the field and therefore the favourite is worth overlooking in this one.
The job of the field was made easier with Coney Island being ruled out and that brings other contenders like Alpha Des Obeaux, American and Bellshill into play. American, trained by Harry Fry looks a fantastic shot in this one and is unbeaten this season. He has looked intimidating and imperious when we have seen him this season and he has the tools to pull this out. The only question would be over his stamina and that four-miler looked a little too long for him. So the reduced three-and-a-half miles in the RSA should suit him just fine and at a price of 9/1 with Bet365 in RSA Chase 2017 betting, his value stacks up.
Alpha Des Obeaux put in a great run in the World Hurdle last year, pushing the imperious Thistle Crack for some time. But he has moved over to chasing and hasn’t really adjusted enough to suggest that he is going to manage to make a challenger over the larger obstacles. He has never really looked like a big enough stayer to land a Grade 1 win and probably a top three would be a success in this one. Royal Vacation, who won the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase after Might Bite’s fall there, had actually gone very well against other class opposition in the race to hold second well before benefiting from the leader’s fall.
He was a good over the hurdles, but looks even more suited to chasing and the he was three of his six starts this season and hasn’t been out of the top three. He is on the rise and Colin Tizzard should rightly be excited by him. Before the moves for Might Bite, Bellshill was holding antepost favouritism for the RSA and he did beat Coney Island in a Novice Hurdle after finish half a length behind Ballyanly at the Aintree Festival. After a positive opening chase, he was horrendous in his last outing and punters immediately abandoned him.
There are others in the field like Whisper and Acapella Bourgeois who could also stun the field. The latter looked impressive in a Grade 2 win this season, but he would need the ground a little on the softer side to perhaps pull it out, but that performance at Navan suggests that he could be there or thereabouts for Nicky Henderson. As for Whisper, he has Grade 1 wins under his belt over the hurdles, but hasn’t been over a three mile chase before and will probably go for the JLT.
RSA Chase 2017 Odds
MIght Bite 3/1, Alpha Des Obeaux 6/1, Acapella Bourgeois 7/1, Whisper 7/1, American 9/1 Royal Vacation 12/1, Bellshill 12/1, Disko 12/1, 16/1 bar
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RSA Chase predictions
It looks well worth skipping over the favourite in his one, certainly at the short price that Might Bite is. American looks like stacks of value for us to pull this one out of the bag in a competitive race and the distance looks right for him. The big each way shot in the field has to be Royal Vacation because you can’t ignore what he did with a heavy handicap in a Class Two at Cheltenham this season.
