Cheltenham Festival: Cruise favorites Lulambo triumph to impressive British debut at Ascot for Nicky Henderson | Racing news
Lulamba lived up to the hype when comfortably matching fellow Frenchman Mondo Man in the BetMGM Juvenile Hurdle at Ascot.
Nicky Henderson’s Smoker scored five lengths in a 16-runner contest at Auteuil on his racecourse debut after being the subject of glowing reports since arriving at Seven Barrows.
Mondo Man was bought for €520,000 after showing plenty of ability on the Flat, notably finishing fifth in the French Derby and fourth behind Calandagan in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The Gary and Josh Moore runner was chasing too freely at the back early on, while Nico de Boinville took a comfortable position on Lulamba following Viyanni.
Caoilin Quinn allowed Mondo Man to move to the front three furlongs but Lulamba always traveled well and the 4/5 favorite went smoothly to the front on the opening straight before scoring by three and a half lengths.
The winner has been reduced to 6/4 for Triumph Hurdle glory at Cheltenham by Betfair, Coral and Paddy Power.
Don’t risk it continued strongly to overturn hot favorite Kargese in the Grade Two BetMGM Mares’ Hurdle.
The Willie Mullins-trained Kargese had her first outing since completing a superb juvenile campaign by securing a second Grade One success at the Punchestown Festival last May.
However, the 2/5 market leader traveled well under Paul Townend and looked set to prevail when he cruised past the challenge of Ooh Betty in penultimate place.
Take No Chances (13/2) didn’t read the script though and made a determined leap to jump to the front in the final flight before fighting bravely to beat Kargese by three-quarters of a length.
The Dan Skelton-trained winner produced the best performance of her career in victory, with winning jockey Kielan Woods praising her consistency, with her 15-race career having produced four previous wins as well as a number of placings.
