Trainer Willie Mullins led the plaudits for Hurricane Fly after Ruby Walsh guided the 10-year-old to another victory over Jezki and a ninth win in as many starts at its Leopardstown stomping ground.
Mullins was keen to praise Hurricane Fly's fighting qualities which yielded a half-length success, and the County Carlow handler said: "There is a fantastic atmosphere here and it was a fantastic race just to watch,"
“It was a superbly run race. JP’s (McManus) horses had the advantage, tactically. I told Ruby to ride him as you find him and don’t try and beat Jezki.
“Coming to the final flight, Fly always gets a good jump but Jezki got a fantastic one as well.
“When he got over the last he put his ears back and no horse I’ve ever seen can battle like him.
“When he got his head in front he kept it there and he’s just a professional.
“Ruby said he jumped a shadow at the first and landed on it. He had a bit of gorse stuck in his girth coming back in which must have been uncomfortable for him.
“He didn’t look happy going away on the bend from the stands and it took him until about the mile to warm up.
“We expected Jezki to be better but we knew we were better as well. There is not much between them.
“We’re always trying to find the next one coming along but I don’t think I have anything like him.
‘He’s unique’
“Faugheen is seven from seven but he has a long way to go. Hopefully we find another one but he’s unique.
“Last year people were asking me would he be retired but I said, ‘No, why?’.
“He had two less-than-good runs but any horse is allowed that. I thought if the ability was still there there was no question and he was showing at home that the zest for racing was still there.
“We probably didn’t do enough with him in the second half of last season.
“We were training him like he was when he was still keen but he’s not like that now. We rectified that now.
“I’m enjoying his wins more now as there is not the pressure there used to be.”
Although stablemate Faugheen is the ante-post Champion Hurdle favourite for the Cheltenham showpiece in March, Mullins said: “To me, he’s our top Champion Hurdle horse — he has the ratings.
“He (Faugheen) looks the one coming up, but he’s (Hurricane Fly) doing it.”
Mullins said Hurricane Fly is likely to next compete in the BHP Insurance Irish Champion Hurdle back at Leopardstown on January 25.
Trainer Jessica Harrington said of Jezki: "He lost nothing in defeat.
“He settled great for AP (McCoy) and he jumped brilliantly — there are no excuses.
“Hurricane Fly is just very, very hard to beat around here.
“Jezki was definitely more relaxed. He jumped well and dead straight and, from that point of view, everything went great.
“They went at it hammer and tongs from when the time they turned in and they both jumped the last well, Hurricane Fly was just marginally quicker away from it than Jezki.
“He seemed to be fine after the race so, all being well, we’ll head on to Cheltenham and hope the hill will make a little bit of a difference.”
