Brave Inca stymied Hardy Eustace's bid for a third consecutive Champion Hurdle title with a stirring victory in Cheltenham's opening-day feature on Tuesday.

The 9-5 favorite for the Grade 1, $600,000 race that defines British hurdling supremacy, Brave Inca engaged the 5-1 Hardy Eustace at the halfway mark of the 2 1/16-mile test. The two battled it out, with Brave Inca taking a neck advantage at the second-to-last hurdle. Hardy Eustace began to tire and eventually lost second to Macs Joy, whose late challenge for all the money fell a length short.

Discreet Cat put himself into the UAE Derby picture with an authoritative performance at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday night as he drew off with ease to defeat six outclassed rivals in a one-mile, $30,000 conditions race.

Away rather slowly, Discreet Cat cruised past the pacesetting Golden Acer at the three-sixteenths pole for an eased-up four-length victory. His time of 1:35.91 was 1.65 seconds faster than the time posted by Gold for Sale winning the UAE 2000 Guineas on Feb. 10.

Kendor Dine slogged his way to victory in the Group 3 Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud on Wednesday, handing the favored Special Kaldoun a five-length beating in the first European pattern race of the season.

Special Kaldoun will use the first European group race of the season, Wednesday's Group 3 Prix Exbury, as his Dubai Duty Free prep. A six-time group race winner in France, Special Kaldoun will have to overcome three other stakes winners in the $96,300 Exbury, which will be run at 1 1/4 miles on very heavy ground at Saint-Cloud

Geordieland, winner of the 1 1/2-mile Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly last June, is a threat. Kendor Dine was a Group 3 winner last year, while Gold Sound won the 1 1/8-mile Group 3 Prix de Guiche at Longchamp last May but has looked dull since.

Electrocutionist served notice to any Americans contemplating a trip to Nad Al Sheba for the Dubai World Cup that he is a force to be reckoned with following his impressive seven-length romp in the Group 2 Maktoum Challenge on Thursday night.

Godolphin finally fires its big guns at Nad Al Sheba Thursday night when the track will host course and distance preps for all six of the big races on Dubai World Cup night, March 25.

Silent Witness suffered the worst loss of his brilliant career at Sha Tin in Hong Kong on Sunday when he was beaten five lengths into seventh place by Scintillation in the Group 1 Centenary Sprint Cup.

The winner of 17 of his previous 19 starts and undefeated in all 17 of his starts at sprint distances, Silent Witness raced in seventh place virtually throughout in the $580,000 stakes. The 1-2 favorite, unraced since having won the Sprinters Stakes in Japan on Oct. 2, Silent Witness closed the gap slightly at the quarter pole but failed to menace the leaders.

The world's top-rated turf sprinter, Silent Witness, makes his much-anticipated return to action at Sha Tin on Sunday, when he makes his first start in nearly five months in the Group 1, $580,000 Centenary Sprint Cup.

Absent since winning the Group 1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama on Oct. 2, Silent Witness missed a chance at a third consecutive Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 11 after a series of subpar works forced him to the sidelines.

Linngari overcame an unusually rain-softened turf course at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday to land the Group 2, $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort, the next-to-last prep for the $5 million Dubai Duty Free on March 25.

Linngari tracked the pace before taking command under Kevin Shea at the three-sixteenths pole. He then drew clear to defeat Lord Admiral by 2 1/4 lengths, with Holiday Camp 1 1/4 lengths farther back in third. The time for the mile on ground labeled good was 1:40.20.

"The plan is now to head straight for the Dubai Duty Free," said winning trainer Herman Brown.

Linngari will seek to add to his Feb. 2 Al Rashidiya victory Thursday night when he takes to Nad Al Sheba's one-mile turf course in the $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort.

The 4-year-old Linngari is cutting back from 1 1/8 miles to a mile for the Al Fahidi Fort, a Group 3 prep for the 1 1/8-mile Dubai Duty Free on March 25. Challenging him will be the Al Rashidiya's third-place finisher, Latino Magic, as well as Holiday Camp and Shersha, both of whom were third last time in listed races.