What Next for Nicky Henderson’s Triumph Hurdle Favourite Lulamba After Kempton Postponement?

Top trainer Nicky Henderson could be set to unleash his latest star in the coming weeks as he targets the Cheltenham Festival with the Triumph Hurdle firmly on the mind of the Seven Barrows maestro for his latest French recruit.

Heavily supported all week, the price of LULAMBA has been forced all the way down from an early 25/1 to 4/1 favouritism despite the Nirvana Du Berlais gelding having yet to make an appearance in the UK followng his French switch.

 

Triumph Hurdle 2025 Odds

• Lulamba – 4/1
• East India Dock – 13/2
• Hello Neighbour – 7/1
• Lady Vega Allen – 10/1
• Sainte Lucie – 12/1
• Palladium – 20/1
• Charlus – 25/1
• 33/1 Bar

A winner of a French hurdle race at Auteuil where he say off Lugoville by five lengths when trained by Arnaud Chaille-Chaille back in October, he was subsequently bought by Joe and Marie Donnolly who clearly have an eye for potential top French talent having trodden a similar path in the past with the likes of Sir Gino, State Man, Melon, Gaillard Du Mesnil and Al Boum Photo amongst others.

Perhaps however, the now-familiar yellow and black chequered silks are best remembered being associated with and sported by the top-class Shishkin who won 14 of his 21 races including twice at the Cheltenham Festival.

Lulamba is yet to make his UK racecourse debut but was pencilled in for his first appearance at Kempton’s Saturday jumps fixture. However, the current cold snap has claimed that fixture and plans for the French import remain unclear. Furthermore, his trainer has urged some caution for those looking to get on the Lulamba bandwagon, stating that the hurdle race he won in France is difficult to quantify into any meaningful form.

Also, Henderson stated that comparisons to Sir Gino could be wide of the mark with the the two horses displaying very different characteristics.

“He did that nicely.” Henderson said, speaking about Lulamba’s win in France. “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.”

Kempton has been a well-used road by Henderson in the past as the Sunbury track often has decent ground throughout the winter compared to other venues; while Sir Gino also made his racecourse debut for Seven Barrows at Kempton a couple of seasons ago. Unfortunately, the demise of Kempton’s scheduled fixture on Saturday means punters won’t see him out on the course for the time being.

But wherever Lulamba turns out for his debut, connections will surely be hoping that he can follow a similar trail as his unbeaten stablemate and force his way into Henderson’s Cheltenham Festival team for March.

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