Racing:Hurricane Fly cemented his position as the number one with a brilliant victory in the Rabobank Champion Hurdle at Punchestown. Ruby Walsh was pulling double on the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle winner, who led going to the final flight.
The 1-2 favourite, trained by Willie Mullins, simply oozed class as he bounded away to score by five lengths from his stablemate Thousand Stars, with Binocular third.
The start almost turned into a farce as no-one wanted to lead when the tape went up, but Tony McCoy decided to go on aboard Binocular.
He was unable to keep a healthy advantage, however, as he consistently jumped out to the left, allowing Menorah to take closer order and lead at the sixth flight. But it was only a matter of time before Hurricane Fly, last year’s winner, came into the picture doing virtual hand-springs over his rivals.
He only had to jump the last to win with the minimum of fuss for a remarkable triumph.
Spirit Of Adjisa sprang a surprise with a game all-the-way win in the Cathal Ryan Memorial Champion Novice Hurdle.
Tim Vaughan’s charge put up a gutsy effort in the hands of Richard Johnson to floor better-fancied rivals in this Grade One contest.
Prima Vista could not get past the 16-1 shot in a neck-and-neck tussle to the line, with market leaders First Lieutenant and So Young soundly beaten.