State Man battles to gruelling Champion Hurdle victory for Willie Mullins

There was, as Willie Mullins conceded, no “wow” about State Man in the Champion Hurdle here on Tuesday, but on the softest ground on the ­Festival’s opening day for many years, even the much-missed ­defending champion, Constitution Hill, might have struggled to find his usual turn of foot. In his absence, State Man turned up and, like the grafter he is, he got the job done, ­carving out a one-and-a-quarter-length victory over Irish Point that was a little more convincing than the margin might suggest.

State Man was to some extent on a hiding to nothing, as he set off at 2-5 on ground that was expected to suit several rivals, and the strong stayer Irish Point in particular. Paul Townend, his jockey, was happy to sit a few lengths back as Not So Sleepy cut out the early running, and ­having moved smoothly into contention off the home turn, he jumped and ­quickened past Irish Point at last to put the race to bed.

It was enough to take the title, but not enough to make State Man even the second-favourite for next year’s Champion Hurdle by the end of the day, as his stable companion, Lossiemouth, moved past him in the ante-post betting with an emphatic success in the Mares’ Hurdle just 40 minutes later. State Man is, however, as dependable as they come, and that alone makes him an essential part of the Mullins machine.

“It went very smoothly,” the trainer said. “Paul rode him with so much confidence. I was concerned that he was a little far back if he made a mistake or anything, in this ground. But Paul was very confident that the horse would jump when he wanted, I think he had Irish Point where he wanted him, and when jockeys are riding in the zone, other things happen in races that they want to happen.

“He [State Man] does what it says on the tin, he’s that kind of horse. No wow factor but he turns up, and that’s important. It’s very hard to be wow in that [ground] … and you don’t go wow when you look at him either. He’s an ordinary horse but he’s a hardy horse, a tough horse and a few more like him wouldn’t be any harm.”

This was Mullins’s fifth win in the Champion Hurdle but his first since the days – all the way back in 2016 – when Ruby Walsh was his ­stable jockey, and so Townend’s first ­success in the opening day’s feature event.

“It was the one that was kind of missing here,” Townend said. “Back in my younger days, I had a close ­association with [the 2011 and 2013 winner] Hurricane Fly, so it’s a race that meant a lot to me and to put my name on that list is special.”

Lossiemouth surges to victory in the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. Photograph: Steve Davies/racingfotos.com/Shutterstock

It is easy to see Townend being aboard Lossiemouth this time next year, as the five-year-old floated over the ground on the way to a very easy success in the next race on the card.

Mullins told ITV Racing that he had no regrets about opting for the easier assignment this time around, however, and Rich Ricci, the mares’ owner, concurred.

“You can say anything you want to in hindsight,” Ricci said. “We had a plan and we stuck to it and hopefully we’ll be able to do it [the Champion] next year.”

Mullins missed out in the day’s opening race, the Supreme ­Novice Hurdle, as Rachael Blackmore brought Henry de Bromhead’s Slade Steel with a strong run to beat the Mullins‑trained Mystical Power by a length and a half. He did not need to wait long for his 95th Festival winner, however, as Gaelic Warrior, the 2-1 favourite, fully justified the trainer’s decision to run him in a hood after a disappointing performance at ­Leopardstown last time, and made short work of his field in the Arkle Trophy.

“We always thought he had a little speed, although we used to run him over three miles [over hurdles],” Mullins said. “Now I think he’s found his calling. He looks like a Champion Chaser, he could be a Ryanair horse [over two-and-a-half miles], and he’s won over three miles as a ­novice, like [last year’s Gold Cup winner] Galopin Des Champs.”

Mullins finished the ­opening ­afternoon on 97 winners at the ­meeting – and with the likely ­favourite too in the three Grade One events on Wednesday’s card – after Corbetts Cross beat Embassy Gardens in the concluding National Hunt Chase.

Corbetts Cross was the sixth Irish‑trained winner on the afternoon, following Lark In The Mornin’s win in the Boodles Juvenile ­Handicap Hurdle. Only the success of Kim ­Bailey’s Chianti Classico, in the Ultima Handicap Chase, prevented a clean sweep for the Irish on the opening day.