14 March 2024 , 16:29
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Gordon Elliott ended a frustrating wait to make his presence felt at the Cheltenham Festival when he landed the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle.
The two-time champion Irish jumps trainer and Willie Mullins’s biggest rival had been forced to endure two days Mullins domination at Cheltenham.
While Mullins sent out six winners to hit a century at the Festival, Elliott secured eight placed finishes from 22 runners.
Teahupoo was his shortest priced runner of the week and last year’s unlucky fourth redeemed himself 12 months later by landing the feature prize of St Patrick’s Thursday, pulling clear of former winner Flooring Porter from the last.
“The horses have been running great,” said Elliott. “We’ve been hitting the crossbar and there’s been no hard luck stories. They all ran their race.
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“Willie is an amazing man. I see him every day of the week. You only see him a couple of times a year. You can imagine what it feels like. To be in the same era as him is unbelievable.”
Since winning the Stayers’ Hurdle in 2019 Paisley Park has become one of the most popular horses in training.
Paisley Park: retired after running in the Stayers' Hurdle (PA)On his sixth appearance in the 3m race, he finished a tired tenth after which trainer Emma Lavelle conceded that the years had caught up with the 12-year-old.
Paisley Park took the applause of the Cheltenham crowd by walking a lap of the parade ring after his retirement was announced.
“It was the right thing to do,” Lavelle said. “I have so much pride in Paisley. He’s taken us on a journey. He ran a lovely race again today but the turbo is no longer working in the way that it used to.
“He’s going to think he was won again going round there and taking the applause."