Lavelle plans Newbury gallop for Paisley Park

Top stayer to warm up for Long Distance Hurdle.

Emma Lavelle is hoping to give her stable star Paisley Park a racecourse gallop at Newbury next week.

The seven-year-old was unbeaten in five starts last term, culminating in his memorable triumph in the Sun Racing Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

He marked his arrival in the top flight with victory in the JLT Hurdle at Ascot last December, after two handicap wins, and is due to return in the Ladbrokes Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury on November 29.

Lavelle reports preparations to be going well, but is keen to have a racecourse spin as part of his build up.

She said: “He’s great – he did a bit of work on the grass on Wednesday morning and he’s coming along well, with Newbury on November 29 his target.

“I’m hoping Newbury will give us permission to have a racecourse gallop next week, either after racing on Thursday or the Friday morning.

“We started him off in handicaps last year, before moving up to Graded company, but obviously that isn’t an option this season – we’ll be going straight into a Graded race – so a racecourse gallop would fit well.”

The Marlborough trainer reports the wet autumn weather has been a definite plus in terms of readying her team.

Lavelle added: “It’s been great – we’ve been able to get them fit and then keep rolling into races.

“We’ve not had to take a pull at all because we don’t have the ground.

“It’s been the best start we’ve had for quite a few years.”

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