There 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.
