Class is permanent - champions reassert themselves as normal service is resumed in Curragh showpieces

You cannot keep a champion, be they human or equine, down for long. The start of May had not gone quite as expected for either Aidan O'Brien or Tahiyra, but by the end of it normal service had been restored.

Bouncing back from Newmarket disappointment on Irish Guineas weekend was the theme linking the winners of the two Classics at the Curragh as O'Brien, courtesy of Paddington, and the Dermot Weld-trained Tahiyra reaffirmed their outstanding quality.

O'Brien's three-year-old colts' cupboard had been looking a little bare until Paddington turned up on Saturday, hot on the heels of Haydock winner Little Big Bear. Taking in a handicap en route to a Classic is unorthodox at Ballydoyle, but the rate of Paddington's improvement seems to have caught everyone by surprise.