Dahlbury Stallions at Chapel Stud Cleeve Hurdle |
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| Grade 2, Cheltenham 15:00 £70,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 2m 7f 213y, Class 1  |
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1 Gold Tweet 14/1
2 Dashel Drasher 3/1
3 Paisley Park 13/8F
7 ran Distances: 3l, 6½l, 5½l
Time: 6m 0.23s (slow by 14.23s)
French raider Gold Tweet enters Stayers' Hurdle picture after winning the @DahlBury Stallions at @ChapelStud Cleeve Hurdle @CheltenhamRaces for @GabrielLeenders @agvkar pic.twitter.com/xRRT2lnlky https://t.co/y7JyqX0jWU via @RacingBetter
— RacingBetter (@RacingBetter) January 29, 2023
French raider Gold Tweet ran out a convincing, but surprise victor in the Stayers’ Hurdle trial.
Searching for his fourth win in the race, the eye was drawn to the smooth-travelling 13-8 favourite Paisley Park as the pace began to quicken coming down the hill for a second time.
But with Aidan Coleman soon pushing away without response aboard Emma Lavelle’s stable star, it was left to Gabriel Leenders’ French raider to cruise into contention and he overtook long-time leader Dashel Drasher shortly after the last before registering a cosy three-length success.
Although sent off at 14-1 there was no fluke about the victory and Gold Tweet was introduced into the Stayers’ Hurdle market at 8-1 by race sponsors QuinnBet – although connections will need to decide whether to supplement the six-year-old for a return to Prestbury Park in the spring.
Leenders said: “It is a dream. I was a lad for David Pipe and Nicky Henderson and a long time ago I said I would come for a run here with a horse and today we are here and we win – it is a dream.
“In France I have won a Group One, but this is the first time I have a runner in England.
“He travelled well and ran a brilliant race. In my head this horse was the first one that I thought had the right profile to run well here. The way he was acting and running in France, we always thought he had the profile to run here.
“He has not been entered in the Stayers’ Hurdle, so we don’t have any plans. We don’t know.”
Emma Lavelle was left a little perplexed by Paisley Park’s run.
“It is a little bit of a head scratcher as he has travelled almost better than he has travelled in a race, but he just didn’t hIt the line running. It is hard to know.
I’d love to say ‘this is why’, but I just don’t have an answer,” she said.
“We’ll see. He seems fine and wasn’t blowing excessively or anything. He’s still had a week less than he would normally have between the Long walk and here, but it is just an odd one, because he travelled so well through the race and was handier than normal because he was travelling.
“I don’t know what the sectionals were, but it is almost as if he didn’t get a chance to hit his flat spot and then stay on. We will go back and have a look at him.
“The Long Walk may have had more of an effect, and we had a week less to get over it. It is hard to say, but he hasn’t run terribly, he just hasn’t run in a normal Paisley way.
“He will come back here (Stayers’ Hurdle), absolutely.”
In contrast, Jeremy Scott was thrilled with the run of the versatile Dashel Drasher.
“He has run a brilliant race and we were just outsprinted up the hill. I didn’t think they went terribly quick early on and it didn’t seem to play to Paisley Park’s strengths,” he said.
“We bumped into one that is obviously a lot better than we gave credit for before the race. We beat the horse we thought we had to beat in Paisley Park, but unfortunately we just bumped into another one.
“I think we will come here for the Stayers’ Hurdle and have a lovely day out. If we can tweak a few things at home maybe we can get a little bit of improvement.
“I wouldn’t rule out going back over fences, but the Ascot Chase is looking so competitive now let’s get him fresh and come back here. Let’s hope it tips it down with rain.”
Dahlbury Stallions at Chapel Stud Cleeve Hurdle
£70,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 2m 7f 213y, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Soft, Good to Soft in places
1 Gold Tweet 6 11-2 Gabriel Leenders Johnny Charron 14/1
2 3 Dashel Drasher 10 11-2 Jeremy Scott Rex Dingle 3/1
3 6½ Paisley Park 11 11-8 Emma Lavelle Aidan Coleman 13/8F
4 5½ Botox Has 7 11-8 Gary Moore Jamie Moore 15/2
5 8½ Molly Ollys Wishes 9 11-1 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 20/1
6 22 Lord Accord 8 11-2 Neil Mulholland Richie McLernon 66/1
PU Gelino Bello 7 11-5 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden 16/5
Year Horse Owner Trainer Weight Jockey SP
1990 Beech Road Tony Geake Toby Balding 8-12-00 Richard Guest 1/3 f
1991 Crystal Spirit Paul Mellon Ian Balding 4-10-09 Jimmy Frost 4/1
1992 Abandoned
1993 Muse White Horse Racing Ltd David Elsworth 6-11-08 Paul Holley 11/4
1994 Flakey Dove John Price Richard Price 8-11-03 Richard Dunwoody 4/1 cf
1995 Mudahim K W Bell Chris Broad 9-11-08 Norman Williamson 13/2
1996 Abandoned
1997 Large Action Brian Stewart-Brown Oliver Sherwood 9-11-08 Jamie Osborne 8/15 f
1998 Mistinguett John Duggan Nigel Twiston-Davies 6-11-03 Carl Llewellyn 100/30
1999 Lady Rebecca Kinnersley Optimists Venetia Williams 7-11-03 Norman Williamson 6/4 f
2000 Lady Rebecca Kinnersley Optimists Venetia Williams 8-11-03 Norman Williamson Evens f
2001 Lady Rebecca Kinnersley Optimists Venetia Williams 9-11-03 Norman Williamson 7/1
2002 Kates Charm Norma Kelly Robert Alner 9-11-03 Mick Fitzgerald 3/1
2003 Classified David Johnson Martin Pipe 7-11-08 Tony McCoy 8/11 f
2004 Crystal D’Ainay Tony & Jeni Fisher Alan King 5-11-04 Jimmy McCarthy Evens f
2005 Patriarch Express A W Muir Sue Smith 8-11-00 Jim Culloty 8/1
2006 Fire Dragon Gay Smith Jonjo O’Neill 5-11-00 Tony McCoy 16/1
2007 Blazing Bailey Three Line Whip Alan King 5-11-00 Robert Thornton 14/1
2008 Inglis Drever Andrea & Graham Wylie Howard Johnson 9-11-08 Richard Johnson 11/8 f
2009 Big Buck’s The Stewart Family Paul Nicholls 6-11-00 Ruby Walsh 7/2
2010 Tidal Bay Andrea & Graham Wylie Howard Johnson 6-11-00 Brian Hughes 14/1
2011 Grands Crus Roger Stanley & Yvonne Reynolds III David Pipe 6-11-04 Tom Scudamore 2/1 f
2012 Big Buck’s The Stewart Family Paul Nicholls 9-11-08 Ruby Walsh 1/4 f
2013 Reve De Sivola Paul Duffy Diamond Partnership Nick Williams 8-11-08 Richard Johnson 15/8 f
2014 Knockara Beau Alistair Charlton George Charlton 11-11-00 Jan Faltejsek 66/1
2015 Saphir Du Rheu The Stewart Family Paul Nicholls 6-11-04 Sam Twiston-Davies 3/1
2016
Thistlecrack John & Heather Snook Colin Tizzard 8-11-08 Tom Scudamore 4/5f
2017 Unowhatimeanharry J P McManus Harry Fry 9-11-08 Barry Geraghty 10/11 f
2018 Agrapart The Gascoigne Brookes P’ship Nick Williams 7-11-06 Lizzie Kelly 9/1
2019 Paisley Park Andrew Gemmell Emma Lavelle 7-11-06 Aidan Coleman 100/30f
2020 Paisley Park Andrew Gemmell Emma Lavelle 8-11-06 Aidan Coleman 4/6f
2021 ABANDONED
2022 Paisley Park Andrew Gemmell 10 11-6 Emma Lavelle Aidan Coleman 5/1
