Keith Melrose on a competitive Long Distance where potential is the watchword

The resistance many of us feel towards the Cheltenham Festival monomania of the jumps season demands that nobody should call this renewal of the Ladbrokes Long Distance Hurdle a trial for anything. Comrades, we would be wrong.

While this field is the best likely to be seen in a three-mile hurdle race this side of the Stayers' Hurdle in March, those looking to bet in it must be realistic about the aims of the participants. This applies most strongly with last year's winner, Paisley Park.

As seemingly befits a champion staying hurdler these days, he took a virtually textbook route through last season. He won this race and the Cleeve Hurdle, missing the Long Walk only because of deteriorating ground, before turning up as an odds-on favourite at Cheltenham, where he failed to deliver.