Hardy Eustace (right) holds off his two rivals.

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Paul Carberry traversed the fine line between sheer brilliance and being made to look foolish as Hardy Eustace evoked golden memories with a battling display to retain the Smurfit Champion Hurdle trophy at Cheltenham on Tuesday.

In a gripping finish to the feature event on the first day of the Festival, fellow Irish challenger Harchibald appeared to have the winner in his sights all the way from the home turn as he cruised up alongside under a motionless Carberry.

But when the rider asked Harchibald to go past the winner 75 yards from the post, there was an emphatic lack of response from his mount as Hardy Eustace dug deep to hold on by a neck.

Brave Inca, who had joined the battle at the final flight, was also just unable to match the winner in the final stages and finished a further neck away in third place.

With Accordion Etoile and Macs Joy coming home next, Irish-trained runners accounted for the first five in the finishing order.

An unconsidered 33-1 chance when winning 12 months ago, Hardy Eustace was sent off the 7-2 favourite and dictated matters from the off, Conor O'Dwyer stealing a few lengths on his rivals right from the start.

And with this battling performance, the eight-year-old erased any suggestions that last year's win could be considered a fluke.

"He'll come back next year and make it three," said owner Laurence Byrne. "We got a great leap at the last and I knew he would stick his head down.

"Last year I felt that maybe he didn't get the credit he deserved, but now we can say he is a true champion."

Hardy Eustace's trainer Dessie Hughes, who won the race aboard Monksfield in 1979 when hurdling enjoyed what many consider to be its finest era, was not the only one to draw parallels between that race and this.

"When Monksfield won, Jonjo (O'Neill) and Sea Pigeon were always travelling well next to me but my fellow just kept pulling out a bit more," he said.

"It's a long way up to that line here. He was brilliant today. He gave them all a chance and none of them could pick him up. His jumping was absolutely brilliant. I've never seen one jump as well as that.

"I've never lost faith in him - he's a very good horse and he's improved. I never thought this would happen again, though.

"They both quickened up, but our fellow just found a little bit more.

"I knew he was right for today. Looking around and seeing what he has beaten, it has to be very possible that he could come back and try to emulate Istabraq and make it three."

Those looking for any disquiet about the ride given to Harchibald were to be disappointed.

His trainer Noel Meade said: "I watched the race with Dessie and I thought we had it won coming up the hill, but Paul said the other horse was the wrong one to come up against in that sort of situation.

"I was delighted with the ride Paul gave him. He gave him a brilliant ride. He told me beforehand that if he got to the front, it wouldn't be until 50 yards out and he nearly got it spot-on.

"If he had gone half a length up after the last I think the other horse would have come back and probably beaten him.

"I could see the two of them coming back here next year. To be honest, they reminded me a bit of Sea Pigeon and Monksfield.

"Maybe we will have a chance of turning it around at Punchestown. The flatter track might suit us.

"The winner is a champion, but I think ours is too. We might just have to wait a bit longer to show it."

Carberry's audacious tactics might not have pleased all of his supporters, but the six-year-old is unquestionably blessed with both immense talent and a lack of resolution.

He faded similarly dramatically when beaten in last year's County Hurdle, having looked sure to go and win the race approaching the final flight.

At least the family had cause for celebration before the afternoon ended as Paul's sister Nina rode her first Festival winner on Dabiroun in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices' Handicap Hurdle.

O'Dwyer admitted that having a horse draw alongside you going so well can be more than a little off-putting.

"I could see from his head that he was absolutely hacking, but Hardy will always put his head down when it matters," he said.

"I was hoping that he wasn't going as well as he looked to be. He's never a horse that is guaranteed to get to the line.

"He was travelling very, very well but I thought that if Paul had as much in the tank as it looked that he might already have gone on.

"That said, it's more than a little off-putting when one comes alongside you like that.

"To win that way, to look like you are almost beaten, but to pull out more, is just unbelievable."

It would be wrong to forget about Brave Inca's involvement in such a great finish and connections of last year's Supreme Novices' Hurdle hero were thrilled to have been a part of the race.

Jockey Barry Cash said: "He ran the race of his life and he absolutely winged the last three flights, but he was just beaten by two slightly better horses on the day."

Trainer Colm Murphy added: "He has run a cracker and we are over the moon.

"He travelled well, jumped well and everything went to plan, but he just got beat. He has run a big race for a second-season novice.

"We will keep our options open for him, enter him at Punchestown and see what happens.

"As for next season we are spoilt for choice. We could go for the Champion again or go over fences for one of the two novices."

The idea of a rematch between the trio at Punchestown, which appears very much on the cards at this stage, ought to whet the appetite of every fan of jumps racing.