Long Distance Hurdle Guide

Paisley Park makes his seasonal debut in the Long Distance Cup and Trainer Emma Lavelle was thrilled with his outing at Newbury last Tuesday ahead of his return to the track.

The eight year old at the Cheltenham festival last season was looking to extend his unbeaten run to eight races and also land back to back renewals of the Stayers Hurdle, but it was not to be for the fan favourite.

After the race it was found that the son of Oscar had come back with an irregular heartbeat that was certainly the cause of his underwhelming run in the Grade One he dominated last season.

Now, the Andrew Gemmell owned horse is said to be back to his best having been given the all clear from the vets and the frequent winner has been wearing a heart monitor in pieces of his work at home and the problem has not resurfaced.

This year the gelding will be taking on much younger horses compared to his race last term when edging out the veteran Thistlecrack on the line and he needs to bounce back from his last run.

McFabulous for Paul Nicholls has promised so much in the last few seasons but this year stepping up in trip should see him flourish and he is our selection in the Grade Two Persian War Novices' Hurdle.

The six year old was a superstar in bumpers, landing three of his four outings, including the Grade Two contest at the Grand National meeting at Aintree.

He stepped up to hurdles last term and took some time to fully get warm to jumping the obstacles, but on his third start got off the mark over timber at Market Rasen, he then backed that up at Kempton next time out to land an 18 runner Grade Three Handicap Hurdle.

The gelding made his seasonal debut at Chepstow in the Grade Two Persian War Novices' Hurdle and blew a decent field away and if improving for that run and handling the step out of novice company then he has a huge chance of landing the spoils.

Summerville Boy has been a superb yardstick for Tom George landing the Supreme Novices' Hurdle in 2018 and since then going to be a smart hurdler out of novice company.

The eight year old was kept over hurdles after that win at the festival and he had a below par season, being outclassed in Grade One company.

This saw George send him over fences and although winning his first event he was not a natural over the bigger obstacles and he was sent over a staying trip back over hurdles.

This was a superb move for his career as he went to Cheltenham in January and won the Grade Two Relkeel Hurdle and then later in the month finished second behind Paisley Park in the Cleeve Hurdle.

This set him up perfectly for the Stayers' Hurdle and although only finishing fifth on the day it was still a fair performance for the amount of runs he had in quick succession.

Staying over timber this term he showed his star quality again on his seasonal debut when taking the a strong event at Aintree over 2m4f and stepping up to three miles in this will play to his strengths.

The six year old gelding was remarkable last season winning three of his four contests in great style and showing a clear staying ability.

He started his life over hurdles at Chepstow in the Grade Two Persian War Novices Hurdle and seeing off some smart youngsters that have since gone on to frank that form including Grade One winner Fiddlerontheroof.

The gelding then went to Cheltenham in the Grade Two Ballymore Novices Hurdle and again put in a strong winning run to enhance his credentials in this division.

He was destined for big things off the back of his third in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham last season and fulfilled his potential for the term when landing the Grade One Challow Hurdle at Newbury.

He was then sent back to Cheltenham in March for the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle and although suffering his first defeat over hurdles, he was a narrow fourth in a very hot Grade One.

The form of that race has worked out with the second and third since coming out and winning on their seasonal debuts and if fit for this event has to be in the frame at a nice price.

Lisnagar Oscar seems to be very underrated in this event being a double figure price and arguably holding some of the best current form over three miles.

The Rebecca Curtis trained gelding had been really hit and miss last term, but in January got back to form when finishing third behind Summerville Boy and Paisley Park in the Grade Two Cleeve Hurdle.

The seven year old came on leaps and bounds for that run to win the Grade One Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival, which has to be strong form.

Lisnagar Oscar made his seasonal reappearance at Wetherby in the Grade Two bet365 Hurdle and finished a fair fourth of eight behind some nice types and he should come on for that run.

Each way player.

The Jedd O'Keefe trained Sam Spinner will to return to hurdles after his poor showing in Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby and his handler his hoping he can get back to form over the lesser obstacles.

The eight year old before Saturday had been out of the sport for some time, last being seen in December 2019 at Doncaster landing the Grade Two Novices' Chase.

The gelding has been a superb yardstick for O'Keefe over both hurdles and fences, having been runner up in the 2019 Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival behind Paisley Park and since stepping up to Fences he had been superb being unbeaten on all three of his novice chase starts including the Grade Two Novices' Chase at Doncaster.

After suffering an injury that saw him miss half of last season the team had been taking it fairly easy with the Caron and Paul Chapman owned horse after his injury which saw him pick up a problem with his Pelvis.

Having returned in the Grade Two Charlie Hall Chase, the yard were expecting a big run from the gelding but instead he was pulled up by his jockey Joe Colliver and they will be hoping that he can improve back in this sphere.

Getting towards the horses near the back end of the market and at 20/1 Honest Vic for Henry Daly looks a nice horse but may just be outclassed in this better company.

The seven year old last term ran to a good standard winning two of his four events including at Kempton in a decent handicap hurdle.

One of his best performances last term came at the Cheltenham festival when finishing fifth in the Grade Three Coral Hurdle.

He made his seasonal return back at Prestbury Park in October and got back to winning ways in the 17 runner Pertemps Qualifier meaning he could be heading back to the festival for that race in March.

However, in this race he should be outclassed, but the team will want to find out whether he is good enough for the Stayers' Hurdle running against these superstars.

A veteran in this race is the Dan Skelton trained Aux Ptits Soins who is now a 10 year old and looks to be edging nearer to the end of his career.

The gelding during his career has been a smart type during his career with his highlight coming back in 2015 when landing the Grade Three Coral Cup at the festival.

He is fairly unexposed for his age which is the reason he is still entered in these classy contests, but with his best form in the past, he needs a career best to land this race.

The penultimate runner of the event is the 40/1 outsider for Colin Tizzard with Vision Des Flos needing a miracle to win this race.

The seven year old was a winner of a two runner event in January but apart from that has some very basic form in much lesser company than this, which makes him opposable.

It looks like he needs more than a career best to win this on ratings and moving back to hurdles after his stint over fences suggests his connections are trying to everything to get a good run out of him.

One Night In Milan is the rank outsider at 80/1 and although the seven year old has entered the frame on most of his career runs, it has come in poor company.

Having ran over hurdles for most of his career, he was sent chasing this season and was pulled up on debut, but managed to finish second last time out in a novices event.

It is strange to see him go back over hurdles, especially over three miles having never won at that distance throughout his career.