First win in 13 months for popular 10-year-old‘That was vintage Paisley,’ said trainer Emma LavelleThere are faster and better horses in training than Paisley Park, but none that are more popular with the Cheltenham racegoers. Emma Lavelle’s 10-year-old took centre stage once again here, beating off Champ, the odds-on favourite, in the Cleeve Hurdle before getting three cheers from the crowd as he returned to the winner’s enclosure after his first victory since December 2020.
It was a dramatic performance by Paisley Park from start to finish, as the 2019 Stayers’ Hurdle winner whipped round and handed his rivals many lengths at the start. In the final half-mile, however, much of the determination and limitless stamina that carried Paisley Park to the staying hurdlers’ championship had returned. Having been a 33-1 shot for this year’s race in the morning, he is now an 8-1 chance to reclaim the title after a three-year gap.