Paisley Park© Photo Healy Racing
Emma Lavelle is planning a change of tactics for Paisley Park at Aintree.
The nine-year-old was third in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in a bid to regain the three-mile crown he landed in 2019.
He is now expected to tackle the Ryanair Stayers’ Hurdle at the Randox Grand National meeting, where he is likely to meet Thyme Hill for the third time this season.
Lavelle said: “The plan at this stage is to head to Aintree. Thyme Hill will be back there and I’m sure it will be a good race, while Andrew (Gemmell, owner) will also be able to be there.
“It will be interesting to see how he gets on back at Aintree as he has not got the Cheltenham hill. He won as a young horse around there over two and a half miles and it will be interesting to see how he goes.
“He will definitely have to be ridden a bit more prominently early on so if he hits that flat spot he is not too far back and doesn’t have lots of ground to make up.
“I think it was a magnificent performance when you look at it as he was on the back foot from the word go and he ran a stormer in the circumstances.”
Although proud of Paisley Park’s effort in defeat, Lavelle believes the result may have been different had she decided on an alternative preparation.
She said: “If I had my time again I think on the back of missing the Cleeve, which was abandoned, I would probably give him a run, even if it was only over two and a half miles just to give him that sharpness because we had a lot of ground to make up.
“Fair play to the horse that he was only beaten five lengths in the end. I just think he lacked that bit of sharpness. The winner (Flooring Porter) did win well.
“Paisley ran a great race, but I think these races are all about margins and in this instance he probably just lacked that bit of sharpness he needed. Hopefully Cheltenham hasn’t taken too much out of him and he will go to Aintree that bit sharper.”
