Lavelle sets sights on Stayers’ challenge with Ma Shantou

Emma Lavelle’s Ma Shantou will head straight to the Stayers’ Hurdle in a bid to emulate the stable’s former long-distance star Paisley Park.

The seven-year-old has been in excellent form this season, winning three times at Cheltenham in a run that culminated with a seven-length success in the Cleeve Hurdle on Festival Trials day.

An unplaced run in a Haydock handicap is the only blip on his record this term and he will not return to the track for the Rendlesham as a direct route to the Festival awaits him instead.

“He’s been fresh and well since Cheltenham, he’s back cantering in his routine and he’s absolutely bouncing,” said Lavelle.

“I was just thrilled with him. It was always going to be the race that decided which route he went, were we going to the Pertemps or were we going to try to have a crack at the Stayers’.

“I wasn’t too sure about the ground but I thought it would show us where we were with him, and he couldn’t have answered the question any clearer.

“He ran an absolute stormer of a race and just looks to be progressing, which is great.

“He’s a bundle of energy but he’s very straightforward, he wears his heart on his sleeve and just gets on with it.

“He’ll go straight to Cheltenham now. He’s had four runs this season, three of those have been at Cheltenham and he’s won all of those.

“I don’t know why he was so disappointing at Haydock but I have no desire to travel there again. We’ll just go straight to Cheltenham, all of our focus will be on the Stayers’ now.”

Paisley Park’s path to the Stayers’ Hurdle would often include the Cleeve Hurdle beforehand so it is a well-trodden path, though Lavelle is aware Ma Shantou has some way to go to reach the same heights as his former stablemate.

“He’s got a fair way to go to emulate Paisley, and it’s not easy to find horses to run in these big Grade One races,” she said.

“Even from Grade Two to Grade One is a big step, we’re not a massive yard so to have something that has every right to take that step is massively exciting.

“They are different types, Paisley was a big horse and Shantou is a little one, but he’s all heart and he just wants to do it.”