Racing: Hurricane Fly once again proved his superiority over Solwhit with a convincing success under Paul Townend in the BHP Insurances Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown.
Willie Mullins' ace has now beaten his old rival four times out of five and he always held the upper hand after his stable companion Thousand Stars had set the pace.
Solwhit (3-1) tried to make a race of it on the run to the final flight but he had to settle for second best again, three and a half lengths behind the 4-9 winner.
Thousand Stars was third, with Voler La Vedette fourth and Sublimity last of the five runners.
Mullins said: "We didn't know what the plan was going out because we were wondering if Davy Russell would make the running on his horse (Solwhit).
"We weren't sure, so I think between Paul and Katie (Walsh, on Thousand Stars) they must have elected at the start what to do.
After Thousand Stars won the County Hurdle the way he did we knew he would stay well, so they elected to make the one-two from the start and it seemed to work out.
"I think he'll go straight to Cheltenham now. I haven't any other plans for him. I'm delighted to get that over.
"It's our first Irish Champion Hurdle success so I'm going to enjoy it."
Sky Bet and Coral both cut the winner to 4-1 (from 9-2) for the stanjames.com Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. The sponsors are 9-2 from 5s.
Realt Dubh was a game winner of the Frank Ward Solicitors Arkle Novices' Chase.
The whole complexion of the race changed when Flat Out unseated Emmet Mullins at the second last when travelling strongly.
Paul Carberry had yet to ask the eventual winner a question at that stage either but he was soon hard at work as Noble Prince threw down a determined challenge.
The pair fought out a titanic battle on the flat an the verdict went the way of the 5-2 favourite.
"It was a very good performance. "He has plenty of ability and his jumping was very good," Carberry said. "I wasn't really headed, but he (Noble Prince) was close to us and I thought we might get beat, but he dug deep and gave a bit more."
Meade said: "He jumped brilliantly and a strong run two miles seems to suit. "He's really tough and stuck his head out. He did a nice bit of work on Tuesday over a mile and a half, and he actually worked a lot better than he did before Christmas.
"He'll go for the Arkle at Cheltenham now and, looking further down the line, the Powers Gold Cup at Fairyhouse is another probable target."