Lulamba lived up to the hype by comfortably representing fellow French import Mondo Man in the BetMGM Juvenile Hurdle at Ascot.
Nicky Henderson’s charge scored by 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 purchased for €520,000 after showing plenty of ability on the Flat, including finishing fifth in the French Derby and fourth behind Calandagan in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Gary and Josh Moore’s runner ran too freely at the back early on, while Nico de Boinville took a handy position on Lulamba pursuing Viyanni.
Caoilin Quinn allowed Mondo Man to take a step forward at three outs, but Lulamba was still traveling well and the 4/5 favorite moved smoothly in front in the home stretch before scoring by three and a half lengths.
The winner was reduced to 6/4 for Triumph Hurdle glory at Cheltenham by Betfair, Coral and Paddy Power.
Don’t take any risks continued strongly to turn around heavy favorite Kargese in the Grade Two BetMGM Mares’ Hurdle.
Kargese, trained by Willie Mullins, was making her first outing since capping a superb juvenile campaign by scoring a second Grade 1 success at the Punchestown Festival last May.
However, the 2/5 market leader traveled smoothly under Paul Townend and looked set to come out on top when he faced Ooh Betty in the penultimate.
Take No Chances (left) holds off heavy favorite Kargese in the BetMGM Mares’ Hurdle at Ascot
However, Take No Chances (13/2) had not read the script and she produced a determined surge to leap forward on the final flight before fighting valiantly to beat Kargese by three-quarters of a length.
The Dan Skelton-trained winner produced the best performance of her career in terms of winning and winning jockey Kielan Woods praised her consistency, with her 15-race career having yielded four previous victories, as well as a string of placings.
