Nicky Henderson has moved to temper talk over Triumph Hurdle gamble Lulamba, but says the horse who has been cut to 4/1 favourite for Cheltenham is "very nice".
The once-raced gelding was a five-length winner on his sole start in France and has been very strong in the market since it became clear he had been bought by Joe and Marie Donnelly, the same team who have one of last year’s star juveniles Sir Gino.
Sir Gino missed the Cheltenham Festival after a number of the Seven Barrows horses were under a cloud last March but went on to win the Grade 1 at Aintree the following month and is currently a short-priced favourite for the Arkle after stylishly landing the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase this winter.
Speaking on the Thursday edition of the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, Henderson said of Lulamba, who was still a 25/1 shot in most places in mid-December: “It’s hard to tell, he’s had one run in France and he did win. It’s hard to tell the form, they were nearly all debutants.
"He did that nicely but you’ve no idea what it was and what was in there. He’s just a fine, big horse. If he was in England, I suspect he’d probably still be in the field but they tend to get on with them in France.
“He’s a very nice, very straightforward scopey animal.
“Sir Gino was always very freaky, he was very speedy from the word go. They’re pretty different."
Lulamba is expected to make his debut in Kempton's opening Play Coral 'Racing-Super-Series' For Free Juvenile Hurdle this weekend but Henderson has a lot of respect for another French import in the shape of Sauvignon.
"I like Kempton because invariably you’d get better ground," he said. "You’ve got a reasonably good chance of getting some decent ground although not on this occasion I wouldn’t have thought. It seems to suit us so we send them there, they have the right races that suit us at the right time of the year.
“This looks a very competitive contest. I think you should look at Paul’s (Nicholls) horse, that’s got some very grown-up Auteuil form. That’s actually won a Listed race which would be superior to what Lulamba ran in."
When asked whether Lulamba was more of a long-term chasing type than a showy horse on the gallops, the answer was a succinct: “I would have said exactly that, yes.”
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