East India Dock close to Triumph-winning level as he throws down gauntlet to Lulamba

Lulamba advertised his credentials for the Triumph Hurdle with an assertive success at Ascot the previous weekend, achieving a Racing Post Rating of 132, and on Saturday it was over to East India Dock in the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham. Having been so impressive when winning at the November meeting, he showed he was still very much in the picture for the main event in March.

East India Dock was 1-2 favourite and won again in emphatic fashion, achieving an RPR of 143. He was entitled to win on form going into the race but stepped forward significantly to record his best yet. Runner-up Stencil (132) improved on his French form and third-placed Torrent (109) ran to a similar level as before.

The race was run in a good time, more than ten seconds quicker than the Unibet Hurdle won by Constitution Hill later on the card. The strong pace ensured East India Dock was able to run to a good figure and 143 (the same as Sir Gino recorded when winning the race last year) puts him clear on RPRs for the juvenile hurdlers.