LONDON: Jockey Ruby Walsh, just back from a long injury layoff, won the showpiece race on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival after guiding favorite Hurricane Fly to Champion Hurdle victory Tuesday. Hurricane Fly, trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins, battled gamely after the final hurdle to hold off the sustained challenge of Peddlers Cross who was beaten a length and a quarter. Oscar Whisky was third. Walsh returned last week after four months on the sidelines with a fractured right leg.
