Lulamba

What makes the numbers even more striking is where those wins have come from. Lulamba has raced four times at the very top level — Class 1, the elite end of the sport — and won two of them, a 50% win rate at racing's highest grade. The wins at Sandown in December 2025 and Newbury in February 2026 were not flukes against soft opposition. These were serious races against serious horses, and Lulamba came out on top both times. Trainer Nicky Henderson, whose yard at Upper Lambourn has sent out 85 winners already this season, was deliberate about the path he chose: running Lulamba against established, older horses at Newbury specifically so it could learn to race against horses who go hard from the front. That is a significant training decision — choosing education over an easier win — and it paid off.

The partnership with jockey Nico de Boinville deserves a mention too. In seven races together, they have won four times — 57%, or just over four in every seven rides. That kind of consistency between horse and rider tends to build over time, and there is clearly something working there.

Henderson has been candid about where this horse is heading. After a recent run at Cheltenham — where Lulamba finished third, having made a costly mistake at speed — the trainer was already pointing toward longer distances. His feeling is that two miles is simply not enough for this horse anymore, and that a trip of two and a half miles, perhaps at Aintree, will suit it better. The longer-term ambition, extraordinary as it sounds for a five-year-old still learning its trade, is a route toward the King George VI Chase — one of the most prestigious races in the sport. Henderson described Lulamba as still being "a baby", which, given what it has already achieved, is either a warning or a promise, depending on how you look at it.