Lulamba gets to take distance chance at Aintree

Lulamba moves up in distance in the William Hill Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree on Thursday, with Nicky Henderson eager to see the five-year-old he sees as a “future Gold Cup horse” end his year on a high.

Owned by Joe and Marie Donnelly, the five-year-old has always been thought of as in need of further than the bare minimum two miles, despite racking up three stylish victories over that distance at the beginning of his chasing career.

After finishing an honourable third in the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival, the Seven Barrows handler has decided now is the time for extra yardage – albeit at a track that may not see his stamina fully tested.

“If you compare two miles around Cheltenham and two and a half around Aintree, I’m not sure you can expect to find a huge difference as far as stamina is concerned,” explained Henderson.

“I would have been tempted to have a look at three miles, but for a five-year-old that is probably a bit much and there is plenty of time for that next year.

“It would be nice if he could get back to winning ways and finish the season on a high.”

Lulamba was a late absentee from the Merseyside action on account of ground last season, and Henderson added: “I am a bit nervous about the ground, but there’s not much we can do about that.

“We kept him back for Punchestown when the ground was a bit quick last year, but there’s no option for him at Punchestown this year because there is no two-and-a-half-mile novice chase.

“He ran well at Cheltenham and is still a young horse who can only improve. In time the further he goes and the softer the ground, he could end up being a future Gold Cup horse.”

One who skipped the action at the Cheltenham Festival, but like Lulamba has always been fancied to excel over further by his team, is Ben Pauling’s Mambonumberfive.

He arrives on the back of a disappointing run in the Kingmaker Novices’ Chase at Warwick in February, but his handler is hopeful he can show his true colours this time.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing how he gets on, I’ve always thought he wanted slightly further than two miles,” said Pauling.

“He’ll handle the ground very well, we learned at Warwick he wasn’t in love with heavy ground at this stage of his career for such a heavy, young horse as he just got stuck in the mud.

“His schooling has been very good and he seems in good form with himself. Lulamba is going to be a very hard nut to crack but I think he’s in very good form and I can’t wait to have a go.

“I think he looks a huge price, they are reading too much into the Warwick race and he’ll definitely improve for the extra half a mile.”

Irish handlers have won the last three runnings of this and the sole challenger this time around is Henry de Bromhead’s Koktail Divin, dropping back in distance after finishing sixth in the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham.

Lucy Wadham’s Arkle fourth Jax Junior and Paul Nicholls’ Blueking d’Oroux complete a field of sixth.