Lulamba cemented his position at the top of the betting for the Arkle at Cheltenham when he ultimately emerged a convincing winner against his seniors in the William Hill Game Spirit Chase at Newbury.
Nicky Henderson was keen to gain more experience with his five-year-old having ridden over fences just twice so far and although one of those came in first-class company, it now seems like a smart decision.
Early on, Lulamba needed time to adjust to his task and jumped big, losing his position.
Halfway through, Nico de Boinville was hot on the heels of the leaders Saint Segal and Master Chewy, but he was pushed while turning.
But at the top of the straight, the 4-11 favorite went into overdrive and delivered some of his best jumps.
De Boinville did not have to work with him too seriously, as he defeated Saint Segal by six and a half lengths.
Paddy Power cut him from 6-4 to 11-8 for the Arkle, but Coral were more impressed and made him their even money favourite.
Henderson said: “The reason he was here was because he needed practice as he didn’t get it at Exeter and then was great at Sandown, but when you jump around here with those older horses you jump half a gear faster and that’s what he’ll need to do at Cheltenham.
“He will go further without any doubt and I don’t think that’s his ground, even though I was surprised by how it was. Nico and I were walking around this morning and we were very happy to run, but he has to be better on good ground and I do think he will jump better on good ground.
“He is a horse that loves life and despite the ground I think he had a great time and I liked the way he accelerated from the penultimate, the gears work.
“You can see what we were trying to do, he didn’t need the race but he needed the experience and it’s against those older horses that can gallop quite well when you learn – they teach you a little bit and you have to jump that little step faster.
“It can take time to warm up and that was the case at Sandown, once he got back there he latched on.
“He has a lot of scope and there is plenty of time for a bit of practice. His jumping still needs some finesse, but that will be there, I hope, on the second Tuesday of March.”
It was De Boinville’s only ride of the day and despite an early start to accompany the Seven Barrows handler on the course, he can return home happy after Lulamba ticked all the boxes in this educational outing that the jockey has won three times in the past aboard the imperious Altior.
De Boinville said: “He is a novice in open company there against seasoned handicappers and just took some time to learn on the job.
“Once we got in and he got a little light, he went away, and once I got on the inside rail he came to life.
“Today was very much about education and we really wanted to bump into him because those fences are coming up quickly at Cheltenham. We were debating whether to run but he’s gone and done the job.
“He has a big engine and I don’t want to compare him with others, but I was very happy.”
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