Flooring Porter will attempt to finally get his hands on the Jrl Group Liverpool Hurdle following his brave second in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The dual Prestbury Park champion had been plying his trade over fences prior to reverting to timber at the Festival, where he showed plenty of his old zest to chase home Teahupoo in the day three feature.

He will now continue to operate over the smaller obstacles, with trainer Gavin Cromwell pointing the nine-year-old towards Aintree next month and the three-mile Grade One in which he has finished second and third to Gordon Elliott’s Sire Du Berlais.

“He’s come out of Cheltenham really well and the plan is to go back to Aintree, we’re really happy with him and looking forward to it,” said Cromwell.

“He was good over fences, but is probably better over hurdles, they certainly lit him up again.

“He acts round Aintree and we’re looking forward to it. A similar performance at Aintree should put him very much in the mix.”

Meanwhile, it appears handicaps are off the agenda for highly impressive Kim Muir winner Inothewayurthinkin, who received a significant rise for his easy eight-length Cheltenham Festival success.

Owned by JP McManus, the exciting six-year-old will be forced into trying his hand in graded company if he runs again this season, with top-table targets both at home and in England possible options.

“He’s a nice horse to have going forward, he’s a young horse with hopefully a bright future,” continued Cromwell.

“He’s gone up considerably in the handicap so we will probably just have to look at the graded novice route (if he is to run again). The obvious options are Aintree or Punchestown and there is a race at Limerick as well. He’s not certain to run again before the end of the season, but if he does he will probably go for one of them.

“Hopefully the handicapper is right, and if so, he will be an exciting horse to have.”

Emma Lavelle’s beloved staying hurdler Paisley Park has been retired after finishing down the field at the Cheltenham Festival.

The 12-year-old has been a constant presence in staying hurdle events over the past few seasons, going unbeaten in the 2018-19 season when his campaign culminated in success in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle.

He has contested the race every season since, finishing third in 2021 and 2022, and alongside a superb record in that race he has three Long Walk Hurdles, three Cleeve Hurdles and a Long Distance Hurdle to his name.

Those victories, amongst 11 on his CV, make him one of the best and most consistent figures in the division and this season he showed he retained plenty of his ability when finishing second by the narrowest of distances in the Long Distance, the Long Walk and the Cleeve.

He lined up as a 14-1 chance in the Stayers’ Hurdle this time around but could only finish 10th, prompting connections to announce his immediate retirement after a stellar career for his loving owner Andrew Gemmell, who was born blind.

Lavelle said: “We have an awful lot to thank him for, we really do.

“I don’t know what is next for him, Andrew would like to keep him in his garden! He’d need to do something, but he’s the sort of horse who will do anything and he’s such a good ride.

“It’s definitely the right thing to do, we said this season would be on a race-by-race basis but he kept running his heart out, it was just a shame he couldn’t get his head in front for one last time.

“Today was the big test and he doesn’t have the same pace that he used to, that turbo button is missing and based on that, Andrew had a discussion as we crossed the line and as he’s done so much for us, he doesn’t need to do any more.

“It’s so emotional because he has done so much for us.”

Gemmell said: “That first win here when he made a ricket at the last and still won has to be my favourite memory.

“We’re retiring him, it was a great race and a great career but it’s time. It’s the right thing to do. He’s been marvellous.”

Teahupoo will look to strike when fresh in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle for Gordon Elliott at the Cheltenham Festival.

The seven-year-old was beaten just three-quarters of a length in the same race last year and returned to action this season in good form to take the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle ahead of Impaire Et Passe at Fairyhouse in early December.

He has not run since then and is expected to benefit that as he is proven to go well after a brief break.

“We’re looking forward to Teahupoo in the Stayers’ and he seems in really good form,” said Robbie Power, racing manager to owner Robcour.

“It was a very good performance in the Hatton’s Grace and we’ve changed things up this year coming straight here.

“The big thing for him is he’s a better horse when he’s fresh and all his runs after a 50-odd day break he has won. We think that is the key to him.

“He didn’t get the rub of the green in the race last year and hopefully if things go well this year he will take plenty of beating. He deserves to win a Stayers’ and we’re giving him every chance.”

Elliott also runs reigning champion Sire Du Berlais, who followed up last year’s victory with success in the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree.

Flooring Porter landed the race in both 2021 and 2022 before finishing fourth last season, after which he switched to jumping fences in the first half of the current campaign.

He was not without success as a chaser but connections ultimately decided to return to the Stayers’ Hurdle in a bid for a third triumph and veto the alternative option of the National Hunt Chase.

“He’s in good shape and we’re looking forward to it. I hope the ground dries out a little bit, I hope it’s not too deep, so we’ll see what happens,” said trainer Gavin Cromwell.

“He’s had a few schooling sessions over hurdles and they’ve gone well, he’s a very intelligent horse so I don’t see it (switching from fences) being a problem.

“When you see what Corbetts Cross (facile National Hunt Chase winner) did on Tuesday I’d say we dodged a bullet there and we’re happy to be running in the Stayers’ again.”

The British challenge is led by Fergal O’Brien’s Crambo, winner of the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot when last seen.

The seven-year-old beat Paisley Park, Dashel Drasher and Champ on that occasion and looks to be on an upward trajectory in a career that has already yielded seven wins from 10 starts.

“He’s in great form, I’m very happy with him and he has trained very well,” said O’Brien.

“We’ve had a great preparation, he’s just improved and improved for us.

“He doesn’t show a lot at home, everything he’s shown us is what he’s shown on the track and we couldn’t be more pleased with him.

“He’s won on everything, he won on good ground at Ascot and he’s won on heavy at Sandown last year so I can’t see that as an issue for him.

“We’ve our fingers crossed he can get his head in front.”

Jeremy Scott runs the hugely popular Dashel Drasher, with Emma Lavelle also set to saddle a fan favourite in the 12-year-old Paisley Park.

Winner of the race in 2019, he has run every year since and finished in third place in both 2021 and 2022.

Willie Mullins has three chances, with Sir Gerhard seemingly the leading hope as the mount of Paul Townend, while Asterion Forlonge will be ridden by Patrick Mullins and Janidil by Jody McGarvey.

Emmet Mullins’ Noble Yeats, the 2022 Grand National hero, will be partnered by Harry Cobden again after the duo beat Paisley Park to land the Cleeve Hurdle in January.

Joseph O’Brien runs Home By The Lee, with the field of 12 completed by Paul Gilligan’s Buddy One, three times a winner already this season.

“He seems to like this course and he has travelled over really well,” Gilligan said.

“He seems well in himself and although it is a big step up, I’m very happy with him and I think he will run with a lot of credit. I think he will run very well.”

Dual winner Flooring Porter, Grand National hero Noble Yeats and previous Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle victors Paisley Park and Sire Du Berlais are all set to line up in this year’s race.

Fergal O’Brien’s Long Walk winner Crambo, the Gordon Elliott-trained Teahupoo and the enigmatic duo of Asterion Forlonge and Champ have also been declared for what appears a fascinating renewal of the three-mile contest.

A total of 13 have been declared, with Willie Mullins’ Sir Gerhard another big player along with Dashel Drasher and Home By The Lee.

Janadil and Buddy One have also been declared.

Last year’s winner Envoi Allen leads 11 in the Ryanair Chase for Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore.

The Cheveley Park Stud-owned 10-year-old has not run since November but has a habit of reserving his best for the Festival.

Paul Nicholls’ Stage Star needs to bounce back from a poor run on New Year’s Day but previously won the Paddy Power Chase under top weight. Stablemate Hitman also runs.

Dan Skelton’s Protektorat drops back in trip having had a crack at the Gold Cup for the last two years, Elliott runs Conflated and Fil Dor while Willie Mullins is represented by Capodanno.

The one horse who will not be suited by Tuesday’s rain is Joseph O’Brien’s Banbridge, who was a non-runner at the Festival last year when the ground went soft.

Ahoy Senor, Fugitif and the supplemented Ga Law make up the field.

The third Grade One on the card is the Turners Novices’ Chase in which an open field of 11 has been declared.

Ginny’s Destiny is gaining a reputation as a course specialist while Grey Dawning, Iroko and Gary Moore’s Le Patron all feature in a strong home team.

Facile Vega will be looking to redeem his reputation for Mullins who also runs Sharjah.

Elliott’s Brighterdaysahead carries plenty of stable confidence in the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle where she will face the promising Jade De Grugy and Dysart Enos.

A full field of 24 will go to post in the Pertemps Network Final in which Farouk D’Alene is top weight.

There are 21 in the Trustatrader Plate, in which Jonjo O’Neill’s Crebilly is well fancied while Angels Dawn will bid for back-to-back wins in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase

Paul Gilligan would not swap Buddy One for any other runner in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle field as his course winner prepares to take his shot at Cheltenham Festival glory.

The Irish raider finished third behind Iroko in the Martin Pipe last year before again hitting the crossbar at Aintree a month later.

The seven-year-old continued to perform well over the subsequent months and returned to the Cotswolds in November where a competitive handicap victory signalled a move into deeper waters in search of bigger honours.

Although faltering in his two starts to date in Grade One company, Gilligan believes Buddy One’s form at Prestbury Park makes him a player in the feature of Thursday’s Festival action and is relishing the chance to lock horns with some of the best in the staying hurdling division.

“It’s coming thick and fast and he’s in great shape. He’s been working really well lately and we’re looking forward to seeing him run,” said Gilligan.

“He did a great piece of work on Tuesday and I couldn’t be happier with him.

“He’s run twice around Cheltenham and won once and finished third in a race he could have won. It’s horses for courses as they say and he seems to like Cheltenham.

“I do think around Cheltenham and the fact that he handles the track will be a big plus. Whether he will beat them or not, I don’t know, but he’s going to be a hell of a lot closer to Gordon’s (Elliott) horses (than previously).

“I wouldn’t swap him for any other horse there. He’s a super horse to deal with and he travels well. When he gets to a new place, he just relaxes and eats. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Buddy One is as big as 66-1 for the Stayers’ Hurdle with some bookmakers but he is much shorter at 25-1 with Paddy Power, who report the gelding to be one of their five most popular picks since going non-runner money back on Festival races.

He was last seen being pulled up at Leopardstown in the Christmas Hurdle, but Gilligan is confident he is over the issues that troubled him that day and is firmly on track for his big-race assignment.

“I think he has the potential to be involved,” continued the trainer.

“I know it’s a big step up from the handicaps, but at the same time, I thought at Leopardstown he was running a really nice race until something went wrong on the home bend before the last.

“Jack (Gilligan, son and jockey) did the right thing and pulled him up and we got him checked out after. The result was he was very sore and there were a lot of excuses and reasons for it (the poor run).

“He seems perfectly fine now, he worked and schooled the other day and he was just electric.”

It was in 2010 when Gilligan registered the biggest success of his training career as Berties Dream caused a 33-1 shock in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.

However, he believes that moment will be eclipsed if either Buddy One or stablemates Kings Hill (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle) and Sequestered (Coral Cup/Martin Pipe) are able to make their mark at the Festival in the hands of his son.

“We’re going out there with three horses and our own lad will be riding them,” continued the Athenry-based handler.

“It’s way different to Berties Dream and when your own lad rides, of course it is a lot more special. We can’t wait for it.”

Fergal O’Brien is confident Crambo possesses all the necessary tools to make his presence felt in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The seven-year-old is very much the new kid on the block in the staying division over the smaller obstacles, kicking off his campaign with a handicap victory at Aintree.

He had to make do with minor honours on his next start at Haydock, but fully justified his trainer’s decision to throw him in at the deep end after coming out on top in a titanic tussle with popular veteran Paisley Park in the Long Walk at Ascot the following month.

Speaking at Jockey Club press morning at his Ravenswell Farm yard, O’Brien issued an upbeat bulletin on Crambo’s well-being ahead of his bid for Festival glory in little over a fortnight’s time.

“Crambo is not a great workhorse, but he does everything very well and he’s very fresh after his work, which is what you want to see,” he said.

“He’s got a great temperament. He hasn’t won round Cheltenham yet, but fingers crossed he can go there and be our first Festival winner.

“You look at the likes of Paisley Park and all those (Stayers’ Hurdle) horses, that’s their one common denominator – they always have that little flat spot.

“In the Long Walk, it was actually the best I’ve seen Crambo travel and jump. He’s normally a bit behind the bridle and he’s made it hard work for Connor (Brace) on a few occasions.”

Crambo came up short in a couple of Grade One assignments last season, but O’Brien insists he never lost faith.

He added: “We’re very lucky to have him and we always hoped he would develop the way he has. As a novice we ran him in two Grade Ones, in the Challow Hurdle, where it never happened for him in wet ground, and then we took him to Aintree after he won the EBF Final at Sandown.

“He was running a big race at Aintree and I think he would have been fourth, but Rachael Blackmore’s horse (Cool Survivor) fell in front of him and that sort of stopped him.

“I always believed in the horse, he won first time up this year at Aintree and then we were a little bit unlucky at Haydock. We could have gone down the Pertemps route, but I really wanted to have a crack at another Grade One and his owners were happy to go to the Long Walk.”

While many of his Festival rivals went on to contest the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham in January, O’Brien decided to keep his powder dry with Crambo and is relishing the challenge.

He said: “He had a hard race at Ascot and it took him a couple of weeks to get over it and get his spark back, but Eve who rode him this morning knows him inside out and she’s delighted with him.

“I’d love to be able to tell you he’s very difficult to train, but he’d train himself. Johnny Burke took him to Lambourn on Friday and jumped 10 or 12 hurdles and he said he felt great, so I’m really happy with where he is.

“I think Cheltenham will suit him, to be fair. I think it will bring out a little bit more improvement and he does need to improve again from the Long Walk.”

Assessing the likely opposition, he added: “Gordon’s (Elliott) two horses at the head of the market (Teahupoo and Irish Point) are two very good horses and there’ll be plenty of others there.

“Dashel Drasher will be there, Paisley Park will be there, Emmet Mullins’ horse (Noble Yeats) and I’m not sure what Gavin Cromwell is doing with Flooring Porter.

“They’ve all been there and done it and got the T-shirt, but Crambo’s got youth on his side and we think he’s a very good horse, so fingers crossed.”

Emma Lavelle says it would be “pretty cool” if Paisley Park manages to get his head in front in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle next month.

The popular 12-year-old will be running in the race for an incredible sixth time, and it will be his seventh appearance in all at the Festival. He won the race back in 2019 and finished third behind Flooring Porter in both 2021 and 2022.

While his career looked to be coming to an end when unplaced last year, he has been beaten in three tight finishes this term, including when narrowly denied by Crambo, one of the favourites for the Stayers’, in bidding for a remarkable fourth win in Ascot’s Long Walk Hurdle.

“Touch wood he’s in great form, he had an easy week after the Cleeve and he’s back cantering away now,” said Lavelle.

“He’s had a little stride along the last couple of days and he thinks he’s King Kong, which I suppose is a good thing!

“There’s been nothing between him and Crambo or him and Noble Yeats who we had to give 6lb to (in the Cleeve Hurdle), and they are much shorter than him in the betting.

“There’s a lot of horses we’ve come up against already that are in the race and there are a few new ones, but if he brings his A-game, you’d have to hope he’d be in the shake up anyway.

“We love him to bits, but he doesn’t half put you through the ringer! He builds you up then sometimes he thinks ‘OK’, then sometimes he just thinks ‘nah, it’s not working for me today’. He’s extraordinary.”

She went on: “People say to me ‘will this be his last run at Cheltenham?’, but at the end of the day only he will decide. Look at where we were after the Stayers’ last year, it’s hard to believe he’s had three runs in two Grade Twos and a Grade One and and the combined distance he’s been beaten is less than a neck.

“Some of the horses he’s running against weren’t even born when he won his first Long Walk, like Paul Nicholls’ (Blueking D’Oroux), it’s ridiculous.

“If he was to win it would be pretty cool, but that’s his problem at the moment, he’s going racing and everyone is cheering him and telling him they love him so he thinks he’s won, we have to remind him he’s finished second!”

Emmet Mullins insists the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle is more than just a stepping stone to the Randox Grand National for Noble Yeats.

The nine-year-old was the Aintree hero in 2022 but finished fourth last year when saddled with 11st 11lb in the four-and-a-quarter-mile contest, a 19lb higher mark than the previous year.

Noble Yeats prepped for that title defence by finishing a distant fourth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and went on to run down the field in the Grand Steeplechase de Paris, leading to a later start to his campaign and a Stayers’ Hurdle bid.

Beaten as an odds-on favourite on his seasonal bow, Noble Yeats roared back to form when edging out the ever-popular Paisley Park in a thrilling finish to the Cleeve Hurdle and Mullins believes that result puts him right in the mix for top honours at the Festival.

He said: “He’s bouncing – he definitely improved a lot from the first time up at Limerick at Christmas. He would have needed that plenty and he definitely improved between then and the Cleeve Hurdle, hopefully he should come on again.

“That was always the plan. He was late back into training as we had such a big campaign last spring and I said to Robert (Waley-Cohen, owner) back in October, we had been put in our place in the Gold Cup last year and I couldn’t see a way past those horses this time around, so we changed direction.

“I’m not saying he’s going to win the Stayers’ Hurdle either but I think he could run a good race in it. I suppose Gordon’s (Elliott) horses are still unexposed, I thought Irish Point was impressive stepping up at Christmas.”

While Aintree in April is likely his ultimate aim, Mullins is not compromising on his preparations for the Stayers’.

He added: “It’s a target in it’s own right. It definitely won’t be as demanding a race as the Gold Cup but we’re definitely training for the Stayers’ as a race in it’s own right.

“I think we were quietly confident going into the Cleeve, and I said to Robert that if we didn’t lay down a marker we’d not deserve our spot in the race, so it was good to see that he did.”

Corbetts Cross holds a clutch of novice chase entries at the Festival but his build up suffered a blow when taking a fall at Fairyhouse last week.

Mullins pointed out Corbetts Cross is the only National Hunt Chase entry for owner JP McManus, but he is unsure how much a mark that tumble has left.

He said: “He seems none the worse for the race so it’s just taking it one day at a time. Physically he looks OK and I suppose we will take our time and we won’t be schooling him for another bit of time – fingers crossed there’s no lasting damage done.

“I can’t really say (if it will be too tight for Cheltenham) without schooling him. He’s a very versatile horse. He has form beating Found A Fifty over a mile and seven in Naas last year and he has form winning over three miles. We will just keep all options open for now.

“He’s got a high quality cruising speed, so if his jumping stands up to it he can always come back in trip a bit.

“He was JP’s only entry in the National Hunt Chase, so I think he’s keen enough on going there.”

Mullins ranks So Scottish among his possible handicap contenders, expecting to travel “four or five” but Leopardstown bumper winner Jeroboam Machin will not be among them after suffering a season-ending injury.

The trainer has the distinction of having ridden a Festival winner in 2011 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle victor Sir Des Champs and saddled a victor in The Shunter, winner of the 2021 Plate at a meeting run without spectators during the pandemic.

Mullins added: “It’s a special place. Training the winner was during Covid so there was no one there but it still hit home on the day. I got a big kick out of it even though there was no crowd there.”

French star Theleme has been ruled out of the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Trained by Arnaud Chaille-Chaille and owned by the Leeds-based Gordon family, the seven-year-old was being prepared for a crack at the Festival’s day three feature having dominated over the smaller obstacles in his homeland.

The seven-year-old has struck Grade One gold five times in France, including victory in last year’s French Champion Hurdle and successive wins in the Grand Prix d’Automne at Auteuil.

He was due to appear on the Flat next month to add the finishing touches to his Festival preparations, but will now not make the trip to the Cotswolds.

On having to sit out the action at Prestbury Park, Bertand Le Metayer, the owners’ racing manager, said: “It is disappointing, but that is what racing is all about, you have ups and downs.”

French star Theleme will revert to the Flat next month in preparation for a tilt at the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The seven-year-old has struck Grade One gold five times in his homeland, including victory in last year’s French Champion Hurdle and successive wins in the Grand Prix d’Automne at Auteuil.

He has enjoyed a winter break since his most recent triumph in the latter contest in November – and with alternative opportunities thin on the ground, the Arnaud Chaille-Chaille-trained gelding is set to switch codes for for his final outing before an intended trip to the Cotswolds in March.

Bertand Le Metayer, racing manager for Leeds-based owners the Gordon family, said: “Cheltenham is very much the plan. It’s probably not ideal as we’ve only got one Flat race that suits him for a prep run and that is on February 23.

“It’s not really ideal, but we can’t really prep him otherwise. I know it’s not the most usual programme, but the French system is not made at all for running on both sides of the Channel.

“The horse has just won a Grade One, we gave him a break after that and he looks fabulous for it.”

Le Metayer hopes a spin on the level next month will give Theleme a taste of the pace he is likely to encounter at Cheltenham, with hurdle races at Auteuil traditionally far more tactically-run affairs.

He added: “The Flat race he is going for is at Tarbes, which is a nice, big oval with a long straight and it will be the first (meeting) of the year, so we expect it to be nice, soft ground.

“Hopefully the race will just give him some rhythm. We have a short amount of time to get him ready and we don’t want to squeeze the lemon too much.

“He’s only been back in training three weeks and we’ve got five weeks until the Flat race, so we’ll give him a nice blow there, jump him over some English hurdles and then take him to Cheltenham.”

Theleme will be bidding to become the first French-trained winner of the Stayers’ Hurdle since the mighty Baracouda claimed back-to-back victories in 2002 and 2003, although Le Metayer feels it is difficult to compare the two with Baracouda having excelled on British soil, as evidenced by four wins in the Long Walk Hurdle, two Ascot Hurdles and two Long Distance Hurdles.

“I actually spoke at length with Francois Doumen, but his ways of doing it were different because Baracouda was not as good a horse in France and he was trained for Cheltenham to the millimetre as that was his objective,” he said.

“The reason we are going to the Stayers’ Hurdle is because we don’t like the prep races (for the French Champion Hurdle) in France as they make you carry top-weight. We have to run in prep races with 72 kilos, which is not something we like doing, so we thought the best way would be to take him to Cheltenham off level weights and also give the Gordon family a taste of Cheltenham.

“The horse has a brilliant mind and he’s obviously a super horse, there’s no doubt about it. It’s just more complicated to prep him for Cheltenham this year than it would be next year because firstly it is unknown and secondly, by next year he will have had a third run on the Flat, so he will have a handicap mark which opens up other options.”

Theleme is a 4-1 joint-favourite for Cheltenham with sponsors Paddy Power alongside the Gordon Elliott-trained Teahupoo, with the latter’s stablemate Irish Point only a point bigger at 5-1.