Not Much Splits the Two Arkle Favourites After Their Chasing Debuts

The two leading market favourites for the Arkle Chase at the Cheltenham festival both made their highly anticipated chasing debuts today, and both look like very worthy candidates so far. Nicky Henderson’s Lulamba finished off his season in style with a big win at the Punchestown festival, while Willie Mullins’ Kopek Des Bordes earned Cheltenham festival triumph last season, however now both could line up against each other.

The Arkle looks like a star studded line up this season, including the likes of Gordon Elliot’s very exciting Romeo Coolio, Willie Mullins’ Salvator Munid, and Henry De Bromhead’s July Flower all being potential challengers, however it is Lulamba and Kopek Des Bordes who head the market.

As far as chasing debuts go, it was easy work for both, and very little went wrong for either candidate. Lulamba who made his debut today at Exeter going off as the ⅖ favourite won very convincingly by a 10 length margin, going off at 10st 10lbs, however a very patient and smooth ride by Nico De Boinville proved everything that was expected of the four year old.

Likewise over in Ireland, Kopek Des Bordes made his very highly anticipated chasing debut after originally been planned to make it on Saturday, however no matter what day, or even what conditions, Paul Townend and Willie Mullins did it again, taking home a 13 length victory going off at 11st 12lbs, making a very impressive showing on his debut over fences.

For both Nicky Henderson and Willie Mullins, this is just the start of what they know will be a very exciting campaign for their top Arkle candidates, and as for the competition, they aren’t completely out of it yet. Both Lulamba and Kopek Des Bordes both won very easily and have been the most anticipated chasers this season so far, however not to forget that Arkle market rival Romeo Coolio impressed in his chasing debut winning by a 14 length margin, making him a more than worthy challenger.

So far the Arkle is shaping up to be a very nice race, and a lot of very good hurdlers are turning into even better chasers. As the season goes on it will be interesting to see how much they can all improve, however for the two market leaders, it was a very good insight into what could be coming, but despite what the market says, there was very little to split them in their debuts, and very little to critique.