Denise Foster saddles three challengers as Paisley Park heads 15 seeking Stayers’ Hurdle success

The 2019 winner was found to be suffering from a heart problem when disappointing in last year’s renewal

Paisley Park and Aidan Coleman (2nd left) winning The Porsche Long Walk Hurdle from Thyme Hill and Roxana (right) for trainer Emma Lavelle at Ascot in December. Picture: Healy Racing.

Paisley Park will face 14 rivals when he bids to regain his crown in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham on Thursday.

Emma Lavelle’s stable star looked set to dominate the division for years to come when landing the Grade One contest in 2019, but was found to be suffering from a heart problem when disappointing in last year’s renewal.