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The Colm Murphy-trained eight-year-old, a close third 12 months ago, went two places better this time under a strong drive from the champion jockey.
Macs Joy fought valiantly up the hill but could not quite catch the 7-4 favourite and went down by a length.
Hardy Eustace, winner for the past two years, was a brave third, a further three and a half lengths back, with Al Eile fourth to complete an Irish clean sweep of the places.
The normally reserved McCoy was euphoric in the immediate aftermath and could not hide his delight at the victory.
“He pricked his ears going to the second-last and he’d got loads left. Like Muhammad Ali said, you’ve got to have the will and the skill and the desire and this fellow’s got it all,” he told Channel 4 Racing.
“When I rode him at Punchestown I thought then that he would win the Champion Hurdle and I really built myself up for this.
“I was a bit worried going past the water jump because I knew he would come off the bridle and I was frightened about getting after him too early.
“But I knew that even though he’s lazy, he’s certainly not slow and he picked up well when I asked him.”
County Wexford-based Murphy was equally thrilled. “It’s been a long year and this has always been the plan. This is the icing on the cake. Hestayed on really well and whatever gets to him knows he’s in a race,” he told Racing UK. “Macs Joy has run a cracker. He beat us a couple of times last year and he’s been on the upgrade all year. “It’s something else to win a Champion Hurdle here.”
| 14 Mar 2006 | Hardy Eustace Treble Bid |
| 13 Mar 2006 | Cheltenham Festival Live TV over the Internet |
| 13 Mar 2006 | Mullins Bumper Jockey Plans |
| 13 Mar 2006 | Hardy Eustace in first time visor |
| 13 Mar 2006 | VCbet 60 Years £60 Free Bet Offer |
| 12 Mar 2006 | 17 Line up for Champion Hurdle |
| 10 Mar 2006 | Hedgehunter to run in the Gold Cup |
| 09 Mar 2006 | Asian Maze set to run in Champion Hurdle |
| 09 Mar 2006 | Chelteham Festival Form Guide Day 4 |
| 09 Mar 2006 | Chelteham Festival Form Guide Day 3 |
Following on from last year, we are delighted to announce that we are featuring horse racing tips from Channel Four Racing presenter, Tom Lee.
Tom appears on Channel 4's Morning Line & covers live Racing in the afternoon as well fronting RTE's Racing coverage in Ireland, his Cheltenham Festival Tips and previews of each day's Racing will be available during the Festival and supported with opinions and views from our Racing writers.
View Tom's Racing Tips
We now have the latest bookmakers betting odds for the main Cheltenham Festival Races.
These odds are updated regularily to ensure that you in touch with all the market moves in the build up to the festival.
The four days of the Cheltenham Festival play host to a number of high quality races:
