Eustace Primed For Third Champion Triumph

Racing romanticists will be brimming with brio should Hardy Eustace cross the white line and bring a third Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle crown back to County Kildare.

But it is not just the just doe-eyed dreamers out there who long for Dessie Hughes to triumph in the Cotswolds on March 13.

Such has been Hardy Eustace's rejuvenation this term, a ton of shrewd money has already been banked on Conor O'Dwyer carrying those distinctive sky-blue, white and yellow silks to another rousing success.

And while a working man's price for the 10-year-old is now long gone, the iron-tough gelding remains a crucial ante-post selection in what is surely the race of the Festival.

It is an inconceivable concept to grasp how Hardy Eustace was sent off at odds of 33-1 in the 2004 Champion Hurdle.

But this double-carpet outsider promptly pulled the rug from beneath those naive souls ? and that was most of us ? who were out of the loop, especially Rooster Booster fans.

Fast forward 12 months and the Prestbury Park faithful once again gazed on in wonderment as O'Dwyer, albeit with a little help from the languid Harchibald, cajoled his pal to a neck verdict.

Things did not go to plan last season, however, and he only got his nose in front once.

His third to Brave Inca in last year's Champion Hurdle may also have had many observers thinking his halcyon days were numbered.

However, Hughes had told anyone prepared to listen that his fellow had simply 'not been right' throughout a troubling 2005-06 campaign.

That advisory has proven succinct information this season ? particularly when Hardy Eustace slammed the excellent Mighty Man by 11 lengths at Aintree.

He then finished a staying-on second to Champion Hurdle favourite Detroit City in the boylesports.com International at Cheltenham, where three factors proved his undoing.

Conceding 3lb Philip Hobbs' younger rival was hard enough, while a combination of a falsely-run race and the tacky ground also hindered progress.

That theory was assuaged at Leopardstown in January when Hardy Eustace presented a watertight case to suggest he is as good as ever by winning the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle.

With a stellar line-up featuring Macs Joy, Lounaos, Asian Maze and current champion hurdler Brave Inca, this was one of the strongest Festival trials in recent memory.

Hughes' star has little respect for lofty reputations, however, and clearly had more resilience, power and speed than the rest of them.

An utterly impressive performance yielded a three-length call from Brave Inca, who was well beaten at the line.

With ears pricked and still staying on at the finish, Hardy Eustace was brilliant ? both mentally and physically.

Such characteristics are what cultivate Cheltenham folklore, and a repeat performance at his spiritual home next month would surely see him have a huge chance of reversing form with Detroit City.

And with his Irish rivals already floored by Hardy Eustace's masterclass in endurance at Leopardstown, taking the widely-available 5-1 could still represent a good piece of business.

Things are never usually as simple as that in horseracing but if he does win a third Champion Hurdle ? thus becoming the first 10-year-old since Sea Pigeon in 1980 to do so ? there will hardly be a dry eye in the house.

? PA Sport