'Bring it on' - Paisley Park ready for Thyme Hill rematch says Emma Lavelle

Emma Lavelle is thrilled by the way her staying star Paisley Park has come out of last month's runner-up finish in the Ladbrokes Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury, and cannot wait for the rematch with Thyme Hill in Saturday's Porsche Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.

Lavelle withdrew Paisley Park 12 months ago after a deluge rendered the course testing in the extreme, but she is approaching Saturday's race in a very different frame of mind and is undaunted by the forecast of up to 30mm of rain this week on a track which is already described as soft following 8mm of rain over the weekend.

Whereas last year she had reservations throughout the build up, her attitude this time is one of "bring it on".

She explained: "I don't have a problem running Paisley Park on soft or heavy ground, but last year he'd had a harder race at Newbury and on the morning of the Long Walk I wasn't very happy with the ground down the back.

"We just didn't feel running in that ground was the right thing to do after Newbury, and I don't think those that did run did much afterwards. Despite the forecast, it doesn't sound as though conditions will be anything like so bad this time.

"Last year it was a bit of a race against time to get him to Ascot as it took him a long time to get over Newbury. This time we are looking ahead to Ascot and thinking 'bring it on', as he didn't have a hard race."

Thyme Hill (right) comes away from the final flight ahead of Paisley Park (left) and McFabulous (noseband) in the Long Distance Hurdle at NewburyCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Paisley Park was conceding 3lb when beaten a length and a half at Newbury and was not fully wound up for his first run since his bid for a repeat win in the Stayers' Hurdle at Cheltenham ended with an irregular heartbeat contributing to a disappointing seventh.

A first Grade 1 winner for Lavelle and jockey Aidan Coleman when winning the 2018 Long Walk, Paisley Park is disputing favouritism with Thyme Hill at around 2-1 for Saturday's race after 14 entries were revealed on Monday.

They include fellow former Long Walk winners The Worlds End (2019) and Thistlecrack (2015), 2019 Mares' Hurdle heroine Roksana, and the Gordon Elliott-trained Pertemps Final scorer Sire Du Berlais, who was a Grade 2 winner at Navan last month.

The vibes are very different to last year and Lavelle, Coleman and the trainer's husband Barry Fenton, who rides Paisley Park at home, are all excited.

Emma Lavelle: 'I don't have a problem running Paisley Park on soft or heavy ground'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Lavelle explained: "We were giving Thyme Hill 3lb at Newbury, and it was Paisley Park's first run back after what happened at Cheltenham, so the three of us just wanted him to have a nice experience, and that's what happened.

"We couldn't be happier with the way he's come out of Newbury. He's definitely improved in his work at home and he looks tighter, so we are all looking forward to the rematch with Thyme Hill."

Ascot Saturday card

Ante-post favourite The Conditional, placed for David Bridgwater in the last two runnings of the Ladbrokes Trophy Chase, is among 15 entries for the Listed Ascot Silver Cup Handicap Chase, while Nicky Henderson's recent impressive course-and-distance winner Buzz is among 22 possibles for the £100,000 Betfair Exchange Trophy.

Last year's meeting went ahead only after two morning inspections, the second of them 45 minutes after the gates opened, but Ascot clerk of the course Chris Stickels does not expect it to be so testing this time.

He said: "The 30mm of rain is a worst-case scenario, but with rain or showers forecast throughout the week it can fluctuate so it's just a rough estimate."

He added: "Wednesday and Friday look the worst days at this stage, and it looks like we are going to get quite a bit. If we got 30mm it would probably be heavy, or the description would at least have heavy in it, but we aren't forecast the sort of volume we had last year, when we had 60mm between Monday and Saturday, and the decision to go ahead with racing was marginal.

"We might not get 30mm, but I wanted people to know that the rain that is coming won't be insignificant and so to expect it to be soft, and maybe heavy in places. We'll just have to see how the week unfolds."

Read more:

Paisley Park: what makes Emma Lavelle's star stayer such a hit with the public

Round two as top stayers Paisley Park and Thyme Hill primed for Long Walk clash

Thyme Hill slashed for Stayers' Hurdle after cosy Long Distance success

Our experts disagree on whether or not Thyme Hill is the Stayers' Hurdle winner

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