Lulamba leads over the last in the Game Spirit

Lulamba all set for Arkle Challenge at Cheltenham Festival

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Mon March 09, 2026 · 2h ago

Nicky Henderson is confident Lulamba can complete unfinished business at the Cheltenham Festival by securing him a recording extending ninth success in the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase.

The imposing son of Nirvana Du Berlais will take on six rivals when bidding to maintain his unbeaten record over fences in the prestigious two-mile contest on Tuesday, which is being sponsored for the first time by UK-based capital markets specialists Singer Capital Markets.

So far this season Lulamba has excelled over fences after backing up his successful chasing debut at Exeter with wins in the Grade One Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown Park and in last month’s Grade Two Game Spirit Chase at Newbury.

However, with Lulamba’s defeat in last year’s Triumph Hurdle behind 100-1 chance Poniros, trained by the Festival’s leading trainer Willie Mullins, still fresh in the mind of Henderson the Lambourn handler hopes his latest chasing ace can rewrite the script.

Henderson said: “I love the Arkle, it is named after a great horse and it deserves to have good winners. You have to have a specialist horse for it, but we tend to get more two milers than three milers, but I don’t know why that is.

“It is great to see Singer Capital Markets come on board. It is terrific to have a new sponsor come into the race when sadly one or two are dropping out. It is great for them to be part of the Cheltenham Festival and I look forward to catching up with them on Tuesday, and let’s hope it is in the number one spot.

“To be fair to Lulamba, his first run at Exeter, with the low sun and what have you, meant that he only jumped five fences, so that didn’t teach him very much, but he did that well. I thought he was exceptional at Sandown Park and then we went to Newbury for the Game Spirit, and again he was very good.

“You would like to think after the Triumph Hurdle defeat last year that there is a bit of unfinished business at the meeting!”

And once again it appears to be a Mullins-trained runner that poses the chief threat to Lulamba in the shape of last year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner Kopek Des Bordes, who was a stylish winner on his sole start over fences this term at Navan in November.

Henderson added: “The whole issue revolves around Kopek Des Bordes. It is that simple. You have to say, look, there is a horse in here that just could be exceptionally hard to beat, but I think we are exceptionally good. He has only had one run over fences, but the rumours and reports coming out of Ireland suggest that he has had a couple of really good racecourse schools and he has been galloping all over horses.

“Kopek Des Bordes won around there last year as a novice hurdler, and we nearly won around there in the Triumph Hurdle, and we should have done really, but that is by-the-by, and we come into this race in lovely shape.”

However, while Kopek Des Bordes lacks experience over fences that department holds no fears for Lulamba according to Henderson, who has trained 75 Festival winners.

He added: “We went to Newbury for the Game Spirit after Sandown Park mainly because he needed more practice. I liked doing it against the older horses as their experience makes sure there is a better gallop and a better pace, and he was good.

“They nearly got away from him for a moment, but as soon as he saw some daylight after three out he was away and gone. It had been a while since his win at Sandown Park when he ran at Newbury last time and he was a bit rusty, but the whole point of running him was to sharpen him up a bit.

"We have done plenty with him at home and he is definitely sharper. He found Sandown Park quite straightforward, but that is a tricky track, and the fact he has been around there gives you a bit of confidence in jumping around Cheltenham.”

Since winning the race for the first time back in 1991 with Remittance Man, Henderson has subsequently gone on to claim the prize with Travado (1992), Tiutchev (2000), Sprinter Sacre (2012), Simonsig (2013), Altior (2017), Shishkin (2021) and Jango Baie last year.

And while he believes that Lulamba, who will attempt to become the first five-year-old to win the race since Voy Por Ustedes in 2006, is not quite at the same level as Sprinter Sacre just yet, he feels he shapes up favourably with many of his previous Arkle heroes.

Henderson added: “We won it last year with Jango Baie, and he is definitely not a two miler, so we got away with it last year, and I don’t know how. I think this horse has got more of a chance going into it than Jango Baie probably had.

“A lot of these French horses tend to be that bit more forward and he is a big scopey horse, so we took the route to go chasing. Is he as good as Sprinter Sacre at this stage? Probably not but he would be as good as some of them like Shishkin.

“Going even further back you have the likes of Remittance Man, and he is probably better than him so he does stack up favourably with lots of our previous winners.”

Since 2020 Singer Capital Markets, who support UK growth companies across their lifestyle have helped advise over 130 transactions helping clients raise £3 billion in capital.

And this latest sponsorship deal marks Singer Capital Markets’ first involvement in horseracing, building on its commitment to elite sport through their sponsorship of Chelsea Women and women’s racket sports.

Tim Cockroft, Chair of Singer Capital Markets, commented: “The Arkle Novices’ Chase is a race synonymous with excellence, ambition and rising talent - qualities that closely reflect Singer Capital Markets values and the clients we support.

“Tuesday’s Singer Arkle looks as competitive as ever with the battle on between the British and Irish with Lulamba and Kopek Des Bordes, but the rest of the field all bring something to the party.

“We are incredibly excited to be associated with this race, which has such a proven track record of producing future Champions and wish all the runners and their connections the best of luck.”

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