LONDON, March 14: Ireland’s Brave Inca, ridden by champion jockey Tony McCoy, lived up to his name by battling to Champion Hurdle glory at the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday.

The well-backed 7-4 favourite, trained by Colm Murphy and a close third last year, led home a 1-2-3 for Ireland.

Macs Joy (13-2), ridden by Barry Geraghty, took second and Hardy Eustace (11-2), bidding for a Champion Hurdle hat-trick, was third under Conor O’Dwyer.

Brave Inca was always in the front rank and was pushed to the front by McCoy approaching the final flight. Challenged by Macs Joy going up the famed Cheltenham hill, he dug deep to keep his rival at bay by one length.

“As Muhammad Ali said, you’ve got to have the skill, the will and the desire and this lad’s got everything,” McCoy told Channel 4 TV after ending a losing spell at the Festival of 32 rides.

“He’s a bit lazy, but there is a big difference between being lazy and slow. He pricked his ears going to the second last (hurdle) and I knew he had loads left.”

Brave Inca was beaten by a whisker into third in a thrilling finish 12 months ago and trainer Murphy said the eight-year-old had improved since then.—Reuters