William Hill Manifesto Novices’ Chase
Grade 1, Aintree 13:45
£120,000 guaranteed,
5yo plus,
2m 3f 200y, Class 1   
Thursday 9th April 2026

Defeat, when it comes for the first time, often tells you more than victory ever could, and for Lulamba the Arkle may yet prove a beginning rather than a setback. His unbeaten fencing record is no longer intact, but the shape of his future appears clearer for it, with Aintree now emerging as the next point of interest and, perhaps more importantly, a step up in distance as the defining theme.

At Seven Barrows, Nicky Henderson weighs these things not in isolation but in context, and what Cheltenham suggested was not limitation, but misplacement. Two miles, sharp and unforgiving, may simply have asked a question that time and distance will answer more kindly elsewhere. The William Hill Manifesto Novices’ Chase, over two and a half miles, offers that opportunity.

“I would love to run Lulamba again and he’s only had three races before the Festival,” continued Henderson.

“He will be over two and a half miles, definitely, and I don’t think you’ll see much of him again over two miles.

“We knew that he probably needed further going into the Arkle and in the long term he’s definitely not a two-mile chaser. He’s a little bit like Jango Baie, who got away with it in the Arkle, but they didn’t go as quick as we thought they would this year and he would have enjoyed a stronger gallop.”put them away,” added Henderson.

BoyleSports

Manifesto Novices' Chase
£120,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 2m 3f 200y, Class 1
9 ran
Going: Good to Soft, Good in places

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    Impaire Et Passe 7 11-7 W P Mullins Paul Townend 9/4
2 1¼ Gidleigh Park 7 11-7 Harry Fry Bryan Carver 7/1
3 shd Jango Baie 6 11-7 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville 6/4F
4 2¼ Boombawn 8 11-7 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 22/1
5 12 Rubaud 7 11-7 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden 16/1
6 10 Mark Of Gold 8 11-7 Gary & Josh Moore Caoilin Quinn 33/1
7 4¼ Croke Park 7 11-7 Gordon Elliott Sam Ewing 7/1
8 1¾ The Kalooki Kid 7 11-7 Nicky Richards Danny McMenamin 28/1
9 38 Fascile Mode 7 11-7 Thomas Mullins Danny Mullins 150/1

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