CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL NEWS: FORMER PADDY POWER STAYERS’ HURDLE WINNER PAISLEY PARK TO BE RETIRED FROM RACING
Thursday 14th March
Trainer Emma Lavelle announced after the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle that the popular veteran Paisley Park, who finished 10th, would now be retired.
The 12-year-old, who is owned by Andrew Gemmell, won the Grade 1 Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle in 2019 and scored in 11 races in total, four of them Grade 1s. This season he had finished second in all three of his previous runs before today.
Emma Lavelle said: “It’s the right thing to do. I’ve had so much pride in Paisley. He’s taken us on a journey from beginning to end, both at home and on the racecourse, and he’s been so special. He ran a lovely race again today, but the turbo is no longer working in the way it used to.
“He’s sound, he’s happy, and he’ll think he’s won again going around the parade ring now and getting all of that applause. He’s just extraordinary.
“That first Grade 1 [the JLT Hurdle at Ascot in December 2018] was extraordinary. We’d knocked at the door in Grade 1s without winning one, and it was just a spectacular day. You could set your clock by him. You knew what would happen in a race - he’d hit his flat spot and you’d think he was out of the race, but then he’d hit the turbo and off he’d go. We have an awful lot to thank him for. We really do.
Asked what the future holds for Paisley Park, she replied: “Well, Andrew says he wants him in his garden, but we’ll see that he’s all right after today and then have a think about what we want to do with him.
“He’s definitely the sort of horse who will want to do something, but he’s also the sort of horse who will do anything. He’s such a good ride and such a lovely boy, I’m sure he’ll have a very good time of it wherever he goes.”
Owner Andrew Gemmell said: “He’s been marvellous and he’s had a great career. The race I remember best was the one at Haydock where he was miles off jumping the last but came and won. It was unbelievable, and before he came to Cheltenham, and I had to persuade the trainer that he should come here!”
