IT’S PAI BACK Fit-again Paisley storms home late to beat the test of Thyme
PAISLEY PARK was all heart to exact revenge on Thyme Hill in an epic Porsche Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.
Rising star stayer Thyme Hill had come home in front when the pair met in the Long Distance Hurdle – Paisley Park’s first race since suffering atrial fibrillation in defence of his Stayers’ Hurdle crown at Cheltenham last March – at Newbury 22 days earlier.
Philip Hobbs’ six-year-old looked set to confirm the form as he and Dicky Johnson jumped the final flight with a three- length lead, only for Paisley Park and Aidan Coleman to storm home and recapture the Grade 1 test he had won in 2018 by a neck.
“I think I’m more concerned about my heart now than his!” laughed the eight-year-old’s trainer Emma Lavelle (right).
“I was looking at where they were and looking at the line, and just hoping that he could get there before the line came.
“He’s a streetfighter. He will just keep battling.
“He’d come a lot for his run at Newbury. He’d just been really strong and well in himself after that, so we were feeling more confident with him today.”
The Wiltshire trainer is hopeful the coronary issue that threatened to derail his career is now in the past.
“It looks like his heart problem has cleared red up,” up, added Lavel l le. e . “We’ve had no o cause for concerns, and it seems to be functioning well at the minute – it hasn’t frightened him, which was the key thing.
“He’s cheeky because he pricked his ears on crossing the line as if to say, ‘I’ve done that now, thanks!’
– he’s a special horse. We love horses that come back – they are great for racing.”
The vi victory saw Paisley Park trimmed to 5-2 fav favourite ( from 5-1) w with Ladbrokes for the Stayers’ Hurdle in March.
And Coleman bel ieves hi s mount, who will warm up for the jumps Festival in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham on January 30, is ready to regain his crown.
“Towards the last, he was able to switch inside and he got more competitive there,” said Coleman. “He really put the after-burners on and saw it out.
“This horse is the ultimate stayer. To come back from what was the brink of disaster to run two of his best races, form-wise, it goes to show how genuine and tough he is.”
HOLLIE DOYLE kicked off a big weekend as she bids to be crowned BBC Sports Personality Of The Year this evening with a winner at Deauville yesterday, scoring on boss Archie Watson’s Colonel Faulkner.