A remarkable renewal of the three-mile contest saw former Stayers' Hurdle winner Paisley Park plant himself and then whip around as the tape went up, losing plenty of ground to his four opponents. It looked to have scuppered his chance of a third win in the race before it had even begun.

Coleman, who admitted afterwards that it had annoyed him, sat almost motionless for a full circuit. It was hard to gauge whether he was trying to creep into the contest or just have a run around Prestbury Park, as another former stayers' champion, Lisnagar Oscar, set the pace, with 8-15 favourite Champ and Jonjo O'Neill Jr content to sit in third place behind Dandy Mag for much of the way.

The pace looked an even one and certainly didn't appear to be particularly strong. As Lisnagar Oscar would things up from the front after four out, Champ looked poised to strike, moving smoothly into second. At the same point Paisley Park passed the weakening Dandy Mag and Coleman later told ITV viewers that he had shouted to Paddy Brennan on board the beaten horse that he was still in it despite whipping around at the start.

Rounding the home turn, Adam Wedge asked for an effort on board Lisnagar Oscar and he, along with Champ, came under pressure for the first time. The majority would probably have anticipated that the favourite would pick up and leave them up the hill but instead it was the 10-year-old Paisley Park who came the long way around, towards the nearside rail.
Making relentless progress, he touched down in front over the last and stayed on strongly up the hill to win decisively by more than three lengths at odds of 5-1.
An emotional Coleman told ITV viewers that his horse had nearly done the same thing at the start a couple of times before: "Just before the tape went down he anchored and I thought I know what you're thinking, and he still did it. But look this is really special to be fair because the longevity of this horse is a testament to his ability and his character. I love him.
"He takes all the plaudits. I literally threw the buckle at him on the way to the first and said look if you want to get into it you do it. I'm not doing anything. You've already annoyed me. You got yourself into this mess. You sort it out.
"He's just different around this track. Regardless of what goes before or after this is very special for a multitude of reasons and mainly just how much of a champion he is."

Paisley Park's effort drew a quote of 15-2 from PlanetSportBet to win a second Stayers' Hurdle crown in March.