Zarkandar impresses

Zarkandar (8-1) made the perfect start to life in the Nation Hunt game with a winning debut in thebettingsite.com Adonis Juvenile Hurdle at Kempton.

One of the best bred horses to ever go jumping, he is a half-brother to 2008 Arc de Triomphe winner Zarkava, who retired unbeaten.

Introduced to British racing in the race last year's Triumph Hurdle hero Soldatino used as a springboard, the winner showed a likeable attitude once hitting the front at the second-last.

Nicky Henderson's Molotof, himself a French recruit, threw down a challenge but Paul Nicholls' four-year-old pulled away to win by two and a quarter lengths.

He was given a 10-1 quote (from 33s) for the Triumph by Sky Bet.

"It was testing old ground and he took a while to pick up on it, but he's a very well-bred horse and I think he has a future," said winning jockey Daryl Jacob.

"He put his head down and really battled - I got there a bit soon but I didn't expect him to pick up like that on this ground.

"I was very happy with him throughout the race and Paul's horses are always very well schooled."

Nicholls said: "He was very colty when we got him and he took a long time to get over being cut (gelded).

"I was very nervous about running him on this ground but he did everything impressively and he has a bit of class.

"I wanted to run him in a good race and after that he'll go to the Triumph. Daryl gave him a great ride.

"Going there (Cheltenham) on the back of just one run over hurdles is not ideal but he's been schooling three times a week so he'll jump plenty of hurdles."