Punchestown Festival News: Paisley Park taking on Champion Stayers challenge

Paisley Park will leave the confines of the UK for the first time to race in the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers Hurdle at Punchestown on Thursday, April 28.

Yet, Emma Lavelle's 10-year-old is used to long distance trips and shouldn't be too perturbed says his trainer.

The 2022 Stayers' performance was more than enough to convince connections that a trip to Punchestown is workable.

"I think Cheltenham is a track that suits him really well because of the stiff finish and he's had a good year. He was third in the Long Walk and he won the Cleeve again and we were delighted with how he ran in the Stayers'.

"I think Punchestown, which is a big, galloping track, should suit him. He seems in really good shape, so we'll see what happens."

Meanwhile, Willie Mullins' Klassical Dream won the race race last season and returns to Punchestown looking to get back to winning ways after a disappointing fifth in the Stayers' at Cheltenham.

Patrick Mullins, the trainer's son and assistant, said: "We got the good start in Leopardstown and (at Cheltenham) Klassical started backing up and Paul ended up jumping off last and we are 10 lengths behind Flooring Porter straight away, so that was just the swing.

Gavin Cromwell's Vanillier won the Albert Bartlett in 2021 but has most recently been chasing and returns to the smaller obstacles with a solid each-way chance.

"He was a good novice hurdler last year, so we'll see how we go."

Ian Bartlett and @nickluck reflect on the Paisley Park story, his owner Andrew Gemmell and trainer Emma Lavelle#LuckOnSunday pic.twitter.com/5JeSHagMOg