Aidan Coleman confident in Paisley Park at Cheltenham’s Cleeve Hurdle

It cost him multiple Grade One victories as Thistlecrack, trained by Colin Tizzard, took Tom Scudamore’s career to new heights – including Stayers’ Hurdle success at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival.

Yet Coleman made no such error of judgement when he was handed the ride on the Emma Lavelle-trained Paisley Park for owner Andrew Gemmell, who has not allowed his blindness to become an obstacle to his love of racing.

A long-overdue first Grade One success for Coleman came when he won the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot in December 2018 – it spared Coleman the ignominy of getting to the 1,000-winner milestone without an elite level success to his name.

And he enjoyed a career high when the horse got the better of the Jedd O’Keeffe-trained Sam Spinner, the mount of Joe Colliver, in last year’s Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Now Coleman is looking forward to Paisley Park returning to action this Saturday in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham before he attempts to defend his Festival title in March.

And he fully expects the horse to prove his superiority over worthy adversaries like If The Cap Fits who won a Grade One novice hurdle at Aintree on Grand National day for trainer Harry Fry and jockey Sean Bowen.

“At Paisley Park’s level there are always going to be top-class horses running against him and we are used to that. There are some top-class horses in there like If The Cap Fits and you have a champion like Apple’s Jade,” said Coleman who had been previously prolific at Grade Two level.

“I’m just focusing on my horse. It is great to ride him and horses at his level you only get to ride a few times a season. I’m really looking forward to Saturday.”

Paisley Park picked up where he left off when making a successful reappearance in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury in November, since when he missed an intended engagement in last month’s Marsh Hurdle – formerly the Long Walk – at Ascot on account of the prevailing testing conditions.

Coleman added: “I was there with Emma and Barry (Fenton) when we walked the course at Ascot before the inspection and he was never going to run. Ascot did amazingly well to get the racing on after the deluge of rain they had, but it was the right decision for Paisley to miss it and he is now ready to run at Cheltenham on Saturday.

“He felt great at Newbury and I thought it was his best run. I was a bit surprised a few people weren’t as taken with it as I was.

“People forget The Worlds End was behind him at Newbury and had won a Grade Two before then and has won a Grade One since.

“It doesn’t matter that a few people weren’t taken by him at Newbury. I’m the one riding the horse and I have every confidence in him.”

Rachel Harwood, the sports administrator who presided over the first Ashes Test to be staged at Durham County Cricket Club, is to take over the management reins at Doncaster Racecourse.

Executive director of Durham Cricket since 2012, she will take up the corresponding role at the Yorkshire racecourse – home of the St Leger – from April onwards.

“I am delighted to move to such a prestigious sporting venue and am very much looking forward to getting started,” she said.