PATRICKS PARK has been given a British handicap rating of 135, just 2lb higher than his Irish mark, which means that Willie Mullins’ horse may struggle to get into any of the three handicaps for which he has been entered at the Cheltenham Festival.

You are probably going to need a mark of 140 or higher to get into the Close Brothers Chase, and 137 or higher to get into the Grand Annual.

The Brown Advisory Plate is a possible, the lowest-rated horse in last year’s renewal was rated 133, but the cut off has been as high as 137 in recent years, and a slightly higher mark would mean that connections would be able to plan with a little more certainty.

The rationale for the relatively low rating is that horses can only be handicapped on what the handicappers see, that potential for improvement cannot be included.

In other news, Blow By Blow has been given a mark of 144, 5lbs higher than his new Irish mark of 139, which already represented a 7lb hike after his impressive victory at Thurles last Thursday.

Fortunately, a seven-year-old who has raced just five times over hurdles, he has the potential to improve by that amount.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The race probably came a bit soon after the John Durkan, he and Djakadam maybe had a harder race than any of us realised. It is one of those things. If it was all plain sailing, it would be much too easy!” – Jessica Harrington on Sizing John