'He looks brilliant and we'll stick to the usual script - he's been a legend'

We are beginning to enter Big Buck's territory with Flooring Porter, who has evolved from a 95-rated goose who failed to win any of his first four races into the most elegant swan in the staying hurdling division.

It is hard to get your head around the fact that he is still only seven but he already has two Stayers' Hurdle wins on his record and is as short as 7-2 with Betfair and Paddy Power to emulate Inglis Drever by winning a third. Big Buck's won four and it not beyond the bounds of possibility that Flooring Porter could achieve that remarkable feat.

The early vibes ahead of the forthcoming campaign could not be more positive and he is set to return in the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan on November 13.