French trainer wins Cleeve Hurdle with Gold Tweet

Gold Tweet and Johnny Carron win the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham

Saturday: Dahlbury Stallions At Chapel Stud Cleeve Hurdle, Cheltenham

Emotional celebrations came thick and fast at Cheltenham on Trials day, but none was louder than the scream from Gabriel Leenders which welcomed his Gold Tweet back into the winner's enclosure after the Cleeve Hurdle.

Feelgood victories on the card for Editeur Du Gite and Ahoy Senor set the tone for Paisley Park, an emblem for much that is a positive about jump racing, to prevail, but in running his usual, solid race he could manage only third behind the 14-1 winner, who was three lengths too good for Dashel Drasher in second.

A son of On Est Bien, who might be as unfamiliar as Gold Tweet to British punters, the six-year-old was bred by the former's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-winning trainer Elie Lellouche and showed enough class to earn quotes of 8-1 from sponsors Paddy Power for the Stayers' Hurdle at March's Cheltenham Festival.

Based near Angers in north-west France, Leenders said in the race build-up his winner was not a champion, but in the aftermath of his success he was mulling a supplementary festival entry for his first runner at the course.

"We won at Cheltenham," he exclaimed. "It’s a dream, my dream, and I'm very happy."

Leenders, a top-level winner in his home country, had spells with Nicky Henderson and David Pipe before he set up on his own.

Johnny Charron celebrates after Gold Tweet wins the Cleeve Hurdle

Edward Whitaker

In Gold Tweet, who runs in the colours of AGV Karwin Stud, he had a useful gelding who promised to relish the three-mile trip in the Grade 2.

Before playfully teasing Willie Mullins to let him win a festival race in the spring, Leenders added: "We thought he had a good chance. He's a very fast horse, but distance is not a problem for him and his jumping suits the English hurdles. 

"In my mind I thought he could run well – and he did. It's expensive to supplement him for the Stayers' Hurdle and we are not rich, but I will talk with the owner and we'll see. If it's possible we will go and it would be a dream to come here in March."

Johnny Charron did the steering on Gold Tweet and said: "It wasn't easy for me to ride as we were always in behind and pulling quite a lot, but hearing the crowd really made me want to win and push on."

That cue can be the prompt for Paisley Park, who won the Stayers' Hurdle in 2019, to get going but his customary late surge failed to materialise.

"He just didn't hit the line running," said Emma Lavelle. "It is hard to know and I would love to be able to say this is why. He seemed fine after that and wasn't blowing excessively or anything. I'd love to see the sectionals as I don't know how quick they went, but I get the feeling on how easily he was travelling they didn't go fast enough for us.

"We will absolutely come back in March all being well."

It would be no surprise if Gold Tweet does too.

New Upping The Ante star Johnny Dineen joins the Racing Post roster for a weekly Saturday column throughout the jumps season. He'll offer a guide to the weekend action, highlight the key horses and races to watch and share his punting wisdom. Read it every Saturday in the Racing Post or online from 4pm every Friday, exclusively for Members' Club subscribershere