Paisley Park is set to face nine rivals in his bid for back-to-back victories in the Ladbrokes Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury.
The 2019 Stayers' Hurdle hero made a winning reappearance in this Grade Two contest 12 months ago, and after adding a second Cleeve Hurdle to his CV at Cheltenham in January, he was unsurprisingly a red-hot favourite to successfully defend his crown at the Festival.
However, Paisley Park could finish only seventh at the showpiece meeting in March, after which he was found to be suffering from a heart problem which later rectified itself.
Nevertheless, Emma Lavelle’s stable star will return with something to prove in Friday’s feature.
The horse rated the biggest threat to Paisley Park by bookmakers is the Paul Nicholls-trained McFabulous, who rounded off last season with victory in the EBF Final at Kempton and made a successful start to the new campaign in the Persian War at Chepstow last month.
Last season’s shock Stayers’ Hurdle winner Lisnagar Oscar, trained by Rebecca Curtis, will be expected to strip fitter for a comeback run at Wetherby, when fourth in the West Yorkshire Hurdle.
Tom George will be hoping Summerville Boy can build on a recent Aintree success, while the Philip Hobbs-trained Thyme Hill – one of last season’s star staying novice hurdlers – makes his first start since finishing a close-up fourth in the Albert Bartlett.
Jedd O’Keeffe’s Sam Spinner reverts to the smaller obstacles, after being pulled up in the early stages of the Charlie Hall at Wetherby.
Aux Ptits Soins (Dan Skelton), Honest Vic (Henry Daly), One Night In Milan (Keith Dalgleish) and Vision Des Flos (Colin Tizzard) complete the line-up, with Alan King’s Who Dares Wins the only horse not declared from the confirmation stage.
