Paisley Park finished for the season with Lavelle plotting Stayers' defence

Stayers' Hurdle hero Paisley Park will be kept under wraps until the autumn as trainer Emma Lavelle and owner Andrew Gemmell dream of turning him into a staying great like Big Buck's and Inglis Drever.

Aintree and Punchestown are off the agenda for the seven-year-old, who has enjoyed a phenomenal campaign, winning five from five, capped off with an emotional victory at the Cheltenham Festival.

However winning the Stayers' Hurdle again next March is definitely part of the plan and, with age on his side, Lavelle believes her star has the "right profile" to emulate the staying greats.

This century Baracouda, Inglis Drever and Big Buck's have all successfully defended a Stayers' Hurdle crown, and bookmakers have Paisley Park at a general 3-1 to follow in their footsteps next March.

Andrew Gemmell and Emma Lavelle celebrate Paisley Park's Stayers' Hurdle success at the Cheltenham FestivalCredit: Edward Whitaker

Lavelle said: "He has a similar running style to those really good stayers and I'm hopeful he can have more than just a similar running style but the same achievements and ability.

"He is young enough and I definitely hope he can [become a great]. There is a long way to go. He will have to come back year on year but he has the right profile and style of racing for it."

Paisley Park has improved a colossal 28lb on ratings this season. After his JLT-sponsored Long Walk Hurdle win at Ascot last December he took the Cleeve Hurdle by 12 lengths before a comfortable success – despite a last-flight blunder – at the festival. His Wiltshire-based trainer is hopeful that next season could see even further progression.

"I think there could still be improvement in him," she said. "We had him in training from July and thought that he was a well-handicapped horse off 140, and he certainly was. As the season has developed he as got better and stronger. He is only seven so he has plenty of time to keep improving.

"I think more experience will benefit him as well. He got to the front at Cheltenham, heard the noise of the crowd and was having a look around – I don't even know if he saw the last hurdle. He will keep learning and it all helps."

Paisley Park is scheduled to parade at Sandown on their Jump Finale card on April 27, but Lavelle expects his next run to come in Newbury's Long Distance Hurdle on November 29.

She said: "He is fresh and well, but we have decided that he won't run again this season. There doesn't look to be a lot of rain around, but the main reason being that he has had a long season. His first run was at Aintree in October and he has not missed a day's work since.

"We don't need to be greedy with him. He has done everything we have asked of him, but we think he has been on the go long enough. I quite like to think he can come back year-on-year and do the same thing."

On next season's campaign, she said: "We have the intention of going to Newbury for the three-mile hurdle as his first run and then take a similar Stayers' route. I would imagine he will go to Ascot [JLT Hurdle], Cheltenham [Cleeve Hurdle, trials day] and then to the festival.

"We wouldn't have started as early as last season so then I think we could have a look at Aintree or Punchestown."

Multiple Stayers' Hurdle-winning heroes

Baracouda
Winner of Stayers’ Hurdle in 2002 and 2003

Trained by Francois Doumen, he was sent off a 13-8 favourite for the Stayers' Hurdle in 2002 after enjoying eight successive wins and he battled bravely to defeat Bannow Bay by a neck. Twelve months later he fended off the strong-travelling Iris's Gift for a another success, but that rival would then reverse the form when they met at Cheltenham the following year.

Inglis Drever
Winner of the Stayers' Hurdle in 2005, 2007 and 2008

Like Paisley Park, tended to hit a flat spot in his races before staying on strongly. The Howard Johnson-trained star beat Baracouda in 2005 but missed the next year following an injury. Came back to his best to surge away with the 2007 and 2008 editions.

Big Buck's
Winner of the Stayers' Hurdle in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

Perhaps the best staying hurdler in history, Big Buck's successfully defended his crown three times. In a winning run of 18 races, he fended off the challenge of Punchestowns in 2009 before following up with a dominant success in 2010. The next two seasons he would retain the prize with determined battling efforts up the Cheltenham hill. When it came to the festival, he just relished the test.

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