Macs Joy can bring the curtain down in style on the Punchestown Festival, and the 2006-'07 jumps season in Ireland, when he bids to win back-to-back renewals of this afternoon's ACC Bank Champion Hurdle.

It's 12 months since the Jessica Harrington-trained star enjoyed the finest moment of an already glittering career when comprehensively routing his old rivals Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace in this race.

A field of eight line up this time, including Hardy Eustace again, as well as possibly the jump game's greatest equine enigma Harchibald and his stable companions Iktitaf and Sweet Wake.

With Sublimity absent due to the quick ground conditions, and Brave Inca running over three miles yesterday, this represents the best of the current two-mile class in this country but experience shows that at this time of year, and on this sort of going, Macs Joy is just about the top of the pile. The eight-year-old has had an interrupted campaign this term with an ultra-promising return in the AIG followed by a lacklustre second to Newmill at Gowran and a muscle problem ruling him out of Cheltenham.

However, there was a lot to admire about the way this hugely likeable racer went about his task at the Curragh recently in a flat race and Harrington reckons that has put Macs Joy in ideal shape for this fourth-day festival feature.

"That was used to get him spot on for this and I was delighted with the way he ran," she said yesterday. "It will be a great race. It's a pity Sublimity is not running but our horse is in great form and we will see what happens."

Hardy Eustace won this race in 2004 and his trainer, Dessie Hughes, will be hoping his decision to bypass yesterday's Stayers race pays off with another success now. However, the Curragh trainer is also happy just to have his stable star back in good form.

"He came back from Cheltenham not well. His blood count was wrong and his muscles were tight so we had to give him two and a half weeks on the easy list," Hughes reported yesterday.

"His bloods are good now and we've freshened him up so hopefully he is back to his best. I suppose it is a help Sublimity is out of the race," he added.

Harchibald is another trying to make up for a stop-start campaign and on this quick ground he will have his ideal conditions for the first time in a long time.

"Slippers" Madden is on Harchibald for the first time with Paul Carberry on board Iktitaf and there is no doubt that the handsome if frustrating 2005 Champion runner-up is the joker in today's pack.

There is no question he has the ability to win but as always, there has to be a question mark over what he will find when the pressure comes on.

No such question mark hangs over Macs Joy and in his ideal conditions he can once again prove the Punchestown king.