YALA Enki was a well-backed favourite winner of the Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton on Saturday, despite touching as big as 23/1 in running, though it certainly can be argued that the advantage he was gifted at the start made some difference.

Hindsight shows that his claiming jockey Charlie Deutsch must have been giving the horse a breather when the others closed right up on him, as Yala Enki’s time from three out was much faster than other hurdles on the card; he took off again, rather than his rivals stopping, in other words.

The overall time was pretty good as well, and Yala Enki gets a timefigure of 134. His Exeter win had come in a good time also and he should remain feasibly handicapped on the back of this.

The two-and-a-half-mile listed chase on the card attracted just three runners, and two finishers, though it would probably have been fairly close between Triolo D’ Alene and Ptit Zig had the latter not unseated two out.

Ptit Zig, who was conceding 10lb here, had a 162 timefigure to his name previously and the form could be alright. But the time was compromised by a steady pace and the one-time smart winner gets just a 128 for this.