'There's Paul Carberry. An untouched snowman in a forest fire. Calm among chaos'

Voting has now closed for The Greatest Ever Race but you can still read our ten fantastic articles. Below, champion amateur jockey Patrick Mullins nominates Hardy Eustace's victory in the 2005 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. The winner will be announced at racingpost.com at 6pm on Saturday, July 23.

The request came in an email. What's the greatest race you've seen, in about 1,400 words? Hmm, okay, I'll take that one.

I sent a text to a few friends, asked them for some suggestions. Some crackers came back, races that seem as bright now as they did then. Moscow Flyer in the Tingle Creek, Kauto Star defeating Denman in the Gold Cup, Edredon Bleu's Champion Chase, Sizing John beating Djakadam and Coneygree at Punchestown, Hurricane Fly raging against the dying of the light in his last Irish Champion Hurdle, Sprinter Sacre's impossible dream. All races where you can talk about titans and clashes and use words like legendary and historic and have a back story straight out of a Marvel comic. Races you'd love to hear Alastair Down work his magic on.

But for me there's only one race. The best I ever saw. The race, and horse, I'd pick every time if I could body-swap and time travel. It had the line-up with all the contenders, and in the biggest race where it really mattered it got a tight three-way finish. But it also had controversy, and drama and left you needing to see a replay asap. "Did you f*****g see that?!"

I don't remember exactly where I saw it, or who with, but I can vividly recall the emotions it mustered. The disbelief, the bewilderment, the shock and the awe. The conversations, debates and arguments it spawned. Come back with me to the Tuesday of Cheltenham, 2005, with the help of Simon Holt.

"Three-hundred thousand in prize-money, but a whole lot more at stake here. So much prestige attached to the Smurfit Champion Hurdle. Who will join the hurdling greats? Two previous winners, Hardy Eustace and Rooster Booster. Hardy Eustace at the forefront . . . they trot in, and they're away!"

It was those rarest of things, a party where all the guests you actually wanted turned up, with only a few annoying plus-ones. Ireland had its 'Magnificent Seven', as the Racing Post and Irish Field proclaimed on their front pages. All horses with character and a history. Hardy Eustace, current champion; Brave Inca, Supreme Novices' winner; Macs Joy, winner of the Leopardstown Christmas Hurdle and Irish Champion Hurdle that season; Back In Front, winner of the Bula and the Supreme in 2003 by a record ten lengths; Accordion Etoile, the Greatwood Hurdle winner; Essex, winner of the Pierse Hurdle and the Totesport Trophy on his previous two starts; and Harchibald, well beaten in the previous year's County Hurdle but favourite up until a poor workout at Navan shortly before Cheltenham.

Al Eile, a future three-time Aintree Hurdle winner, did not yet have the credentials to make the cut for the front page. And the now snow-white Rooster Booster, winner in 2003, was the lone British hope long before it was fashionable to fill that role.

Hardy Eustace, blinkers on, was bounced out smack down the paint by Conor O'Dwyer, who was in the 'night time' of his career. Barry Cash pointed Brave Inca towards the centre of the track in the front rank. Rooster Booster could see all of the 14-strong field from where he was, with Intersky Falcon just ahead of him. And Harchibald. Not much changed early.

"Rooster Booster right out the back, dropped out by Richard Johnson. Has he got the fast pace that he so likes? Well, it doesn't look that strong as they pass the stands. Just a medium gallop set by Hardy Eustace."

The middle pace of the race was the key. Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca were strong stayers, but a ferocious gallop could set it up for Rooster Booster while a dawdle would suit the younger horses. O'Dwyer had to get the balance right. With the fractions not frantic, Ruby Walsh took the box seat down the rail on Back In Front. Tony McCoy sat Essex on Hardy Eustace's flank while Cash rode on the wing of the front two. Timmy Murphy stayed perched out wide on Al Eile. Barry Geraghty positioned Macs Joy in the pocket behind the front line. Harchibald watched on. So far, so normal.

"About to descend towards the third-last flight of hurdles and it's the defending champion Hardy Eustace who leads the way . . . Brave Inca with every chance out wide . . . Harchibald yet to be asked any questions."

As they started the descent, the pace began to quicken like a piano falling out of a window. Hardy was squeezed forward, Brave Inca cajoled, Essex growled along, Back In Front was asked for more, Macs Joy given a shunt. Rooster Booster struggled stoically to chase the tails hanging off younger legs. Harchibald moved closer. The dead wood was left behind.

Hardy Eustace (right), Harchibald and Brave Inca (left) jump the last together in the 2005 Champion HurdleCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

The second-last came and went and Hardy still led the way but Brave Inca was challenging now. Essex became exposed and Back In Front couldn't go with them. Around the home bend, Macs Joy had nothing left to fire and Accordion Etoile came to the end of his gear box. Al Eile was long gone. One previous champion and one future champion galloped on. One by one the others dropped away. One by one they were found out. All except Harchibald.

"Here comes the final flight, Hardy Eustace rises just ahead but Harchibald is cruising up on the bridle, Brave Inca is wider out . . ."

And there among the hammer and tongs, the fire and the fury, the roaring and shouting, the whips cracking and hooves smacking, the lungs burning and legs tiring, the raised arms and clenched fists, in the middle of all that, there sat Paul Carberry. An untouched snowman in a forest fire. A man who takes a pull at the back of the last in a Champion Hurdle as coolly as other men light a cigarette. The calm in the chaos.

"Up the hill, three in a line here, Harchibald hasn't been asked a question yet in the centre under an ice-cool Carberry, Hardy Eustace still galloping . . . Hardy Eustace pulling it out, from Harchibald . . . Hardy Eustace defends his title!"

Hardy Eustace (right) battles to victory from Harchibald (centre) and Brave Inca in the 2005 Champion Hurdle at CheltenhamCredit: Edward Whitaker

This race had the players, the final scene and the stage to make it a great race, but it is because of Carberry that this is the greatest race I've ever seen. He's the reason it's tattooed into my memory. We'll see jockeys and horses going at it full throttle again, champion versus champion; those races happen every year or two, or three or five. We haven't seen the like of this before or since.

But wait, I hear some grey-haired fella at the back start up. No, no, sit down, this was different from Francome and Sea Pigeon, and while I could do with burning up some more of the requested 1,400 words, if I have to explain why then you don't get it and there's no point.

People want head to head, all on the line, McCoy getting his mounts to give their all from the top of the hill, blood and guts. People crave the physicality of a never-say-die ride. But I prefer the cold precision of a sniper shot. And yes, it didn't come off. But it was beautiful to watch and I'll never forget it. I don't think we'll see its like again. And that's true greatness, isn't it?

'I still believe I gave him the best chance of winning'

In an extract from his autobiography One Hell Of A Ride, Paul Carberry recalls the agony of defeat

When we came to the second-last I was lying in third place, cruising behind Hardy and Brave Inca, with both horses being ridden hard. Just then, Brave Inca took a swerve to the right going over the second-last hurdle and left a gaping gap which Harchibald jumped into, making almost two lengths in the air.

To another horse this would have been seen as a dream run as he pulled alongside Hardy, but I felt it was too early and would have preferred to have had him covered up until the last. It's a steep hill home at Cheltenham and you don't want to be there too early, especially on a horse like mine. The crowd suddenly went wild when they realised how easily Harchibald was going, with his head still in the air, and I hadn't moved a muscle.

In running, we would have been probably long, long odds-on to win as Conor was on full drive on Hardy and Barry was pumping away on Brave Inca. I was in between them, looking all over the winner, and we winged the last.

But it wasn't to be. I cruised past Barry and was eyeball to eyeball with Hardy, who as a dour stayer was just about keeping his nose in front. Fifty yards from the line I decided to go for it and get Harchibald to get his head down. When I did there was nothing there and he flattened out in seconds. We flashed past the post in second place, a neck behind Hardy Eustace, with Brave Inca back in third.

Hardy Eustace (left), Brave Inca (centre) and Harchibald (Paul Carberry) after the 2005 Champion HurdleCredit: Edward Whitaker

I was devastated. It was there to be won and we didn't. The first prize was almost £200,000 with second place getting less than half that. But for me right then and there, and I suppose ever since, it's never been about the lost money, it was about winning the race. The horse deserved it, my boss Noel Meade and the owner Des Sharkey deserved it, and the fans deserved it. For God's sake, I think I deserved it too.

Noel asked me after the race what I thought would have happened if we had kicked on after the last and I told him straight that I believed we would have finished third. "That's good enough for me," he said. But it wasn't good enough for him. I knew that and he knew that. We had come so close to pulling off one of the greatest Champion Hurdle wins of recent years and no matter how many times you try to leave it behind, the nagging doubts and doubters are still there.

There is no way of knowing if we would have won if I had kicked on earlier and I still believe I gave the horse the best chance of winning that I could have.

Don't miss the rest of this fantastic series here:

Sir Mark Prescott on Mandarin's miracle in the 1962 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris

Brough Scott on Arkle v Mill House in the 1964 Cheltenham Gold Cup

Richard Hoiles on Crisp v Red Rum in the 1973 Grand National

Nick Luck on Secretariat's stunning win in the 1973 Belmont Stakes

Jessica Harrington on Grundy v Bustino in the 1975 King George

Chris Cook on Dawn Run's win in the 1986 Cheltenham Gold Cup

Rishi Persad on Dancing Brave's victory in the 1986 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Lee Mottershead on Desert Orchid's win in the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup

Richard Forristal on Fantastic Light v Galileo in the 2001 Irish Champion Stakes

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