Cheltenham Festival 2026: Kargese foils Kopek and Lulamba in Arkle surprise

Kargese sprang a minor surprise as she made all for victory in the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham Festival.

Sent off a 7-1 shot with all eyes on her Willie Mullins-trained stablemate Kopek Des Bordes and Nicky Henderson’s Lulamba, Kargese was given a perfect front-running ride from Danny Mullins.

The mare was clearly still travelling well turning for home and while both the market leaders tried to challenge, in particular Kopek Des Bordes, she held firm up the hill and kept finding to win by two and a quarter lengths from her fellow Mullins runner, with the jumping of the runner-up and third horse Lulamba leaving a bit to be desired at the business end.

Mullins said: “Kargese jumped superbly and had far more experience than Kopek, which has stood to her at the finish.

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Nice feeling

“It’s a nice feeling watching two of your own fight out the finish, and you think of Annie Power, but surely two of them wouldn’t fall at the last, at least one of them would get over you hope.

“We all need Cheltenham winners and it’s great for Danny and it’s fabulous to get off the mark for the week.

“I thought Danny gave her a tremendous ride and he used all the attributes that she has – when he wanted a jump at the last, he got it.

“We were happy Lulamba was up with Kargese and my worry was that Kopek might get in front with Kargese and the two of them might run the powder out of each other.

“She’s tough and she gives herself a hard race, even over hurdles as a juvenile and everything since. We couldn’t believe how well she finished off her season as a juvenile. She’s a really tough nut.

“She looks like a Champion Chase horse, but we’ll have to decide.”

Tremendous

The master of Closutton was delighted with the runner-up, feeling there could have been a different outcome but for a mistake at the final fence.

Mullins added: “I thought Kopek ran brilliant and I thought Paul (Townend) gave him a fantastic ride in the circumstances.

“If it wasn’t for the mistake at the last, I think he would have won without coming off the bridle.

“For a horse having only a second run over fences in a race like the Arkle, and just for that mistake at the last, it could have gone his way.

“To do what he did there today was tremendous. I haven’t lost any faith in him at all.

“We’ll be looking at Aintree. We’ll be looking at Punchestown, there’s plenty of options for him.”

Gracious in defeat

Kopek Des Bordes’ enthusiastic owner Charles McCarthy had similar feelings to his trainer and was gracious in defeat, having 12 months earlier been celebrating Supreme Novices’ Hurdle glory.

He said: “As far as I’m concerned, you must be gracious in defeat and victory.

“He’s a wonderful horse, he’s still in one piece and you’re going to see an awful lot more of him, I promise you that.

“What can you say and what can you do? It wasn’t our day, but we had our day here last year.

“He’s only a six-year-old, we expect a lot from him, but that run will bring him on I’m sure and we can look at Aintree and Punchestown.”

Fell away

For much of the way, it looked like Lulamba could maintain his unbeaten fencing record with some superb leaps throughout the beginning and middle of the contest.

However, when the pace quickened, Lulamba’s jumping fell away, leaving his handler now suggesting a move up in distance is in order at Aintree.

Henderson said: “If there been a two-and-a-half-mile race we’d have run in it, definitely.

“We were in top gear (when he made a mistake at the second-last), that’s the trouble. He’s run on well, and we might try to go to Aintree over two and a half, I’d say; he’ll enjoy that.

“I don’t think you’ll see him over two miles again and he is that (King George) sort of horse – he’s going down the Jango Baie route, isn’t he really?”

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