Paul Townend: 'To win a championship race here is very special'

Life as a hurdler hasn’t been plain sailing for former high-class Flat horse Penhill, but the seven-year-old has a happy knack of producing the goods on the days that matter.

Last year’s Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle winner added the Stayers’ Hurdle to his CV when making a winning seasonal debut in yesterday’s feature.

Winner of his maiden at Tramore, he bled when disappointing at Killarney before bouncing back to win at the Galway Festival in 2016. His track appearances are few and far between, and last year’s success at this meeting came off a short break, but that paled in comparison to this success, 323 days after his last appearance on a racetrack.