After his impressive win at Ascot, Nicky Henderson’s French recruit Lulamba has been cut to 6/4 for the Triumph and is now the clear market leader. He showed a neat turn of foot to put the race to bed after the final hurdle and he’s undoubtedly a smart horse but I thought there was an awful lot to like about the effort of the runner up Mondo Man on his hurdling debut. If he can settle better at Cheltenham, I think he can narrow the 3.5l margin of defeat substantially, and perhaps even turn it around.
This is a horse that regular readers of my previews will be familiar with. We backed him in the G1 French Derby, where he finished fifth and also in the G2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, where he finished fourth. His last run on the flat was poor but he ended up with a rating of 111 in that sphere and he was picked up by current connections for a cool 520k in October at the Arqana Arc Sale.
Pulled Like A Dog
To say he did a lot wrong at Ascot would be a massive understatement.
He pulled like an absolute dog for at least three quarters of the race, yet he still
kept on well for second and while he had no answers when Lulamba turned the
screw inside the final 150 yards, that was understandable given how he had behaved
throughout the race.
He often raced keenly on the flat too, particularly when he
was running on home turf in France where they usually go a crawl early before
the race turns into a sprint at the finish. I think he will be seen to much
better effect when he encounters a proper end to end gallop, which he will
hopefully get in the Triumph.
Ground Versatile
Mondo Man jumped pretty well at Ascot so he should be fine
in that department. He seems to act on all sorts of ground, which is always a
big plus for any ante-post bet, and unless something emerges from the Dublin
Racing Festival in a couple of weeks, there doesn’t look to be any superstars
lurking in the shadows in Ireland.
Even though he’ll be worse off at the weights with Lulamba in
March, I still think he can run to a much higher level if they go a proper
gallop and he settles so at odds of 25/1, Mondo Man is worth backing each way.
2025 Cheltenham Triumph Hurdle Ante-Post Tip: Mondo Man
e/w @ 25/1
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