PAISLEY Park probably does not quite measure up to some of the great staying hurdlers of the past, like Big Buck’s and Baracouda, but he is proving thoroughly dominant in an otherwise ordinary era, and the theory that he could be vulnerable in tactical affairs took another blow when he won another of them – the Cleeve Hurdle – at Cheltenham on Saturday.

The pace was steady, to say the least, and the proximity of Lisnagar Oscar and Kilbricken Storm at the finish prevents it from being rated top-class form. However, Paisley Park was fastest where it mattered and can be rated 165 on sectionals, in addition to what he did in winning this race and the Stayers’ Hurdle here last year.