By Jon Lees One of the most popular jumpers of the early noughties has died in retirement at the age of 27. Hardy Eustace was trained by the late Dessie Hughes to win 14 times in a 48-race career, including a trio of Cheltenham Festival victories. He landed the Royal & SunAlliance Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2003 under Kieran Kelly, then returned 12 months later to make all the running in the Champion Hurdle at 33-1, partnered by Conor O’Dwyer. Hardy Eustace was a 7-2 joint-favourite for the same race in 2005 when showing tremendous battling qualities to get the better of Harchibald and B…