The sister of Apple's Jade is now the 5/1 favourite for the Triumph Hurdle.
After impressing on debut in France back in May, Apples Shakira arrived at Cheltenham with plenty of promise and she certainly did not disappoint. A sparkling performance saw her destroy all rivals in the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle and caused bookmakers to slash the filly from 16/1 to as short as 4/1 for March's Triumph Hurdle.
The sister of the 2017 Mares Hurdle winner was heavily backed into favouritism before the off, leapfrogging then-unbeaten Gumball and the move was justified as Nicky Henderson's three-year-old ran out a comfortable 17-length winner.
Ridden by Jockey Barry Geraghty, he said after the race: "You could only be impressed. She was green through the middle of the race and was learning all the way."
"Her work wouldn't be as flashy as most but she's got a great way of going and you can only love her."
<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"It was a tremendously impressive performance." - Our expert pundits give high praise to <a href="https://twitter.com/CheltenhamRaces?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CheltenhamRaces</a> winner Apple's Shakira. <a href="https://t.co/JE9iFQm5Nu">pic.twitter.com/JE9iFQm5Nu</a></p>— Racing UK (@Racing_UK) <a href="https://twitter.com/Racing_UK/status/931871450687930370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
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