Imperious in 2011 but evidently a shadow of his old self when only third a year ago, Mullins had felt Hurricane Fly's potency had been restored as soon as he returned from a summer holiday and he arrived in Gloucestershire with three wins in the bag.
While cheered from the rooftops as a 13-8 favourite might be for a feature event, his eventual two-and-a-half-length success over title-holder Rock On Ruby had looked anything but probable when Walsh began to shake him up at the halfway point.
Rock On Ruby and Noel Fehily had opted to set a punishing gallop with no other obvious leader and he maintained it with admirable ferocity but Walsh had been among those to have perhaps dismissed his claims a year earlier and the field was anxious not to allow the champion to get away from them.
Suddenly, though, Hurricane Fly had overcome his flat patch and was cruising on Rock On Ruby's flanks, with Walsh driving him up the final hill to repeat Comedy Of Errors' historic feat of 1975.
With Champagne Fever taking the Supreme, and Quevega making it five Mares' Hurdles' in a row, Mullins was also passing Tom Dreaper's mark of 26 as Ireland's most successful Festival trainer in a day he admitted would be "impossible to repeat".
"I thought he looked very strong when he came back for the year, and I just hoped that if he could do what he had been doing on the track and what he had been doing at home, it would be enough for me," said Mullins. "A lot of my horses have come over here in better form than they were last year. He may well have put his all into winning the Irish Champion Hurdle in the wet last year, but he was stronger this year. It means a huge amount for him to come back and prove his ability."
Simonsig, owned by the Scottish potato magnate Ronnie Barlett, kept up his unbeaten record over fences in the Racing Post Arkle, but not without a fight.
Following on from the victory of Sprinter Sacre in the race 12 months ago, Nicky Henderson's giant grey repeated the feat under Barry Geraghty, but not with quite the fireworks expected.
The race was billed as a duel between Simonsig, winner of the Neptune last season, and Overturn, last year's Champion Hurdle runner-up. However, the tacky ground did not help Overturn and he eventually faded into fourth.
It was left to Baily Green, a 33-1 shot, to shake up the favourite, who clattered a fence on the run-in, and for a few strides after the last it looked as though Mouse Morris' charge was going to reel in the 8-15 favourite .
"I'm very happy. He's fantastic – it's a pleasure to have him, Bartlett told Five Live. "At the top of the hill he made a mistake but he got away with it, thankfully."
Quevega, meanwhile, rewrote jumping history when winning the same race for the fifth successive year at the Festival.The nine-year-old mare completed a nap-hand of victories in the OLBG Mares' Hurdle in dramatic fashion to make it a treble on the day for Walsh and Mullins. In doing so, she equalled the feat of Golden Miller, who won the Gold Cup from 1932 to 1936.
Her cause looked hopeless, though, when she almost came down after clipping heels at the top of the hill.
"She was on the floor at the top of the hill – she nodded and I nearly fell over her ears," said Walsh. "When she stood back up, the boys were gone, and I had to sit and suffer down the hill."
Sam Waley-Cohen punched out Rajdhani Express (16-1) to claim the Rewards4Racing Novices' Handicap Chase while Brendan Powell Jr enjoyed his first win at the meeting when victorious on Golden Chieftain in the JLT Specialty Handicap Chase.
Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh had believed all season the true Hurricane Fly had returned and the dominant forces in Ireland were as good as their words as he became only the second horse to regain the Stan James Champion Hurdle on a thrilling first day of the Festival.
Imperious in 2011 but evidently a shadow of his old self when only third a year ago, Mullins had felt Hurricane Fly's potency had been restored as soon as he returned from a summer holiday and he arrived in Gloucestershire with three wins in the bag.
While cheered from the rooftops as a 13-8 favourite might be for a feature event, his eventual two-and-a-half-length success over title-holder Rock On Ruby had looked anything but probable when Walsh began to shake him up at the halfway point.
Rock On Ruby and Noel Fehily had opted to set a punishing gallop with no other obvious leader and he maintained it with admirable ferocity but Walsh had been among those to have perhaps dismissed his claims a year earlier and the field was anxious not to allow the champion to get away from them.
Suddenly, though, Hurricane Fly had overcome his flat patch and was cruising on Rock On Ruby's flanks, with Walsh driving him up the final hill to repeat Comedy Of Errors' historic feat of 1975.
With Champagne Fever taking the Supreme, and Quevega making it five Mares' Hurdles' in a row, Mullins was also passing Tom Dreaper's mark of 26 as Ireland's most successful Festival trainer in a day he admitted would be "impossible to repeat".
"I thought he looked very strong when he came back for the year, and I just hoped that if he could do what he had been doing on the track and what he had been doing at home, it would be enough for me," said Mullins. "A lot of my horses have come over here in better form than they were last year. He may well have put his all into winning the Irish Champion Hurdle in the wet last year, but he was stronger this year. It means a huge amount for him to come back and prove his ability."
Simonsig, owned by the Scottish potato magnate Ronnie Barlett, kept up his unbeaten record over fences in the Racing Post Arkle, but not without a fight.
Following on from the victory of Sprinter Sacre in the race 12 months ago, Nicky Henderson's giant grey repeated the feat under Barry Geraghty, but not with quite the fireworks expected.
The race was billed as a duel between Simonsig, winner of the Neptune last season, and Overturn, last year's Champion Hurdle runner-up. However, the tacky ground did not help Overturn and he eventually faded into fourth.
It was left to Baily Green, a 33-1 shot, to shake up the favourite, who clattered a fence on the run-in, and for a few strides after the last it looked as though Mouse Morris' charge was going to reel in the 8-15 favourite .
"I'm very happy. He's fantastic – it's a pleasure to have him, Bartlett told Five Live. "At the top of the hill he made a mistake but he got away with it, thankfully."
Quevega, meanwhile, rewrote jumping history when winning the same race for the fifth successive year at the Festival.The nine-year-old mare completed a nap-hand of victories in the OLBG Mares' Hurdle in dramatic fashion to make it a treble on the day for Walsh and Mullins. In doing so, she equalled the feat of Golden Miller, who won the Gold Cup from 1932 to 1936.
Her cause looked hopeless, though, when she almost came down after clipping heels at the top of the hill.
"She was on the floor at the top of the hill – she nodded and I nearly fell over her ears," said Walsh. "When she stood back up, the boys were gone, and I had to sit and suffer down the hill."
Sam Waley-Cohen punched out Rajdhani Express (16-1) to claim the Rewards4Racing Novices' Handicap Chase while Brendan Powell Jr enjoyed his first win at the meeting when victorious on Golden Chieftain in the JLT Specialty Handicap Chase.
