It is an oft-forgotten thing that not all horses win races. As punters, we often think that every horse has a chance of winning every race that they enter, which is true in the strictest sense, but in reality a lot of horses go entire careers without making any sort of impact on the Winner’s Enclosure. For that reason, horses that win a significant number of the races that they take part in will always rule the roost and stand out from the crowd, which is why Paisley Park is a name that many of us will recognise. Having won 11 of the 31 races that he took part in during his career, Paisley Park ends his time with a better than one in three ratio.
Eventually, though, all good things come to an end and it is for that reason that Emma Lavelle, Paisley Park’s trainer, and Andrew Gemmell, his owner, have decided to bring down the curtain on his marvellous career. A tenth place finish in the Grade 1 Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival was all the proof that they needed that the time had come to hang up the saddle for the final time. As with all jump racers, it is better to stop him from running than being forced to take him off the course due to injury or worse, so it is the right time for the horse to head off to the stables for an easier life in retirement, away from the cameras.
A Graded Race Winning Horse
Paisley Park shot to prominence in 2019 when he won the Stayers’ Hurdle at the first time of asking, adding the famous Cheltenham Festival race to his list of accomplishments. He then took place in the race every year since, regularly going off as the favourite; just as he had in 2019. It wasn’t the first Graded race that he’d won, however. His first success on that front came in the Betfair Stayers’ Handicap Hurdle, which was a Grade 3 offering at the time and has since been turned into a Premier Handicap race. He won that in 2018, which was the same year that he also won the Long Walk Hurdle for the first time, a month later.
In fact, the Long Walk Hurdle might well be the race that he is most closely associated with, given that he won it three times across a five-year span. He missed out in 2019 but won it again in 2020, then was unfortunate in 2021 before reclaiming the crown in 2022, matching the three wins managed by Big Buck’s and falling just one shy of the four wins that Baracouda achieved to set the race’s record. The argument is certainly there that the Stayers’ Hurdle might well be the most famous race that Paisley Park won, however, given the fact that it is one of the Festival’s most important races and the Cheltenham meeting has the eyes of the world on it each year.
A Legend
To many, Paisley Park will always be considered as a legend of the racing world. He was the star of the Wiltshire stable of Emma Lavelle, who spoke of the ‘immense pride’ that she’s always felt for the horse. Speaking of the decision to retire him, she said,
“We’ve always wanted to do what was right by him. He has taken us on the most unbelievable journey and his performances this season have been extraordinary for a 12-year-old. He couldn’t quite get his head in front, we thought the Cleeve was probably his last real chance of doing it. It was one last throw of the dice today and he has run fantastically well, but he just hasn’t got the turbo anymore. The time has come to retire him.”
He was a horse that the public took to their hearts, appreciating the skill and power of a horse that would often look out of a race only to come roaring back into it. Having lost out by no more than a head in three runs prior to the Festival this year, as well as missing out on a fourth Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot thanks to a photo-finish, there was a hope that he might just be able to produce something special to bow out on. In the end it wasn’t to be, but he will be remembered by all as a legendary horse who constantly took the fight to the others in the field and never allowed anyone in a race with him to rest on their laurels.