Paul Nicholls welcomes in the Old Guard at Cheltenham

As the bubble of Peace And Co was emphatically burst, the rise of Old Guard continued to gather pace following his game triumph in the StanJames.com International Hurdle at Cheltenham.

While all eyes were focused on this year's Triumph Hurdle hero and the horse rated as the best British chance of victory in the Champion Hurdle, it was Paul Nicholls who had the smile put back on his face after his emerging star stole the show in the Grade Two prize.

No sooner had the tapes gone up did Daryl Jacob find himself in a battle to settle the 4-5 favourite, who pulled his way to the front much sooner than expected when passing early leader Cheltenian after just two flights.

Having managed to get the four-year-old under control it looked as though his ability may see him get away with his early endeavours, and he seemingly travelled well turning for home.

That position quickly turned out to be one filled with false hope, as Hargam, Old Guard and Sempre Medici swept past the Nicky Henderson-trained runner long before the final flight, with his finishing effort fading within a matter of strides.

As Peace And Co weakened the contest quickly became a three-horse race and it was anyone's guess which of those fighting it out would emerge victorious with them virtually in a line crossing the last.

Showing his distinct liking for the track the 7-1 winner made it three victories from as many visits to take his most significant success and back up his win in the Greatwood Hurdle last time out, holding Sempre Medici at bay by a length. Hargam was a further neck away in third.

Old Guard was cut from 33-1 to 20-1 for the Champion Hurdle with William Hill, while Ladbrokes and Boylesports introduced him at 20-1 and 16-1 for the same race.

Nicholls, who by his standards has endured a few quiet weekends, said: "We thought he'd improve for the summer, but not by this much.

"He's galloped all the way to the line. He likes it here, he's improving and I think he'll keep improving.

"He's definitely going forward and what will suit him better will be an even faster run race. A muddling race doesn't suit him.

"We're going to aim him for one race, obviously, in March - the Champion Hurdle - and he'll have one run before.

"That race could be at Wincanton in February (the Kingwell Hurdle). That would suit him well, but we've just got to train him for the Champion.

"It looks like we've got a live Champion Hurdle contender."

A delighted Sam Twiston-Davies, who was completing a hat-trick of wins in the race after steering The New One to victory in 2014 and 2013, felt this year's winner has all the right credentials to be a Champion Hurdle contender.

He said: "He's coming up through the ranks and he's progressing well.

"He travelled very well down to the last and when I asked him for everything after it he was very tough.

"He has all the right attributes, and he stays very well, which you need to do to win a Champion Hurdle."

Henderson was left perplexed by the effort of Peace And Co, even allowing for his keen-going effort, and he was pushed out to 10-1 from 8-1 by Hills for the Champion.

The Seven Barrows trainer said: "If you go back a year ago today, he did that at Doncaster but he didn't stop for anybody.

"He can be a bit like that when he's a bit fresh, but when he's run out of petrol he's absolutely on empty. He couldn't finish it out at all.

"We're just going to scope him, because Daryl was suspicious of noises and I could actually hear him just there. It may come to nothing, I don't know. This is something he doesn't do under normal circumstances, we know he doesn't.

"His wind has always been 100 per cent. Something has gone badly wrong, obviously."

He added: "He think he's a miler, he is is very talented but he's got to learn to switch off. We'll just have to see."

Henderson is also responsible for Hargam and said: "Hargam has run a great race, but we know where they stand from the Triumph.

"He has run really well, but he will be better on better ground."