Willie Mullins: 'Stronger and really race-fit' State Man more than ready for Constitution Hill Cheltenham rematch

It is going to be "one hell of a Champion Hurdle" according to Willie Mullins, who warned the Constitution Hill camp to expect a stronger State Man at Cheltenham next month. 

State Man has nine lengths to make up on Constitution Hill from last year's clash in the Unibet Champion Hurdle but Mullins described his performance in the Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas as "huge". 

Constitution Hill has only appeared once this season, a typically sublime performance in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day, whereas State Man already has three Grade 1s safely tucked away and seems to be getting better with every outing. 

The most recent of those was yet another straightforward success in the Irish Champion Hurdle and Mullins could not be happier with how the season has gone. Speaking at a media morning organised by the Jockey Club, he said: "State Man is in great order and I thought his performance at Christmas was huge against Impaire Et Passe, who was much more competitive at Christmas than he was the other day at the Dublin Racing Festival.”

Jockey Paul Townend is convinced State Man did not do himself justice in last year's Champion Hurdle and, when asked whether he felt the same, Mullins said: "I don’t know, we’ll find out this year. We have a lot more experience with him now and he’s going to be really race-fit. 

State Man was well behind Constitution Hill in last year's Champion HurdleCredit: Alan Crowhurst

"However, Nicky [Henderson] does have a habit of getting his horses right on the day. People think they haven’t raced enough but Nicky gets everything right for Cheltenham so we hope there’s going to be a hell of a race. Nicky might not think so, or Constitution Hill fans might not think so either, but I think we are stronger this year."

Mullins would not be drawn on the tactics which may be employed in a bid to reverse last season's Champion Hurdle form. He said: "I'll leave all that to Paul. I’ll chat to him before the race but, at the moment, we’re just happy to have the horse in as good a order as he is and hopefully get him there in that order."

State Man has yet to get a Champion Hurdle success on his CV, but he has two Irish Champion Hurdles and eight Grade 1s in all, one more than Constitution Hill. 

Galopin Des Champs with Paul Townend and State Man with Willie MullinsCredit: Patrick McCann

When asked to compare him to his hurdling greats, Mullins said: "Champion Hurdle winners are Champion Hurdle winners. State Man hasn’t won one yet but he’ll have a crack this year and maybe next year, but he has a bit to catch up doesn’t he?

"He doesn’t have the pizzazz of Faugheen, or the speed of Hurricane Fly, but he has other things. He jumps well and he's so consistent so hopefully we can turn the tables this year. I don’t know if we’re better but we’re stronger."

State Man is 5-2 with the Champion Hurdle sponsors Unibet to inflict a first defeat under rules on Constitution Hill, with the defending champion a 1-3 shot.

Galopin Des Champs justified favouritism from an unpromising position in last year's Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, but it sounds as though more positive tactics will be deployed next month. 

He is now odds-on everywhere, and a best price of 10-11, to emulate stablemate Al Boum Photo by winning the race in consecutive years and Mullins said he came out of his recent stylish Irish Gold Cup success at Leopardstown in terrific order.

He said: "I think he has enjoyed being ridden more prominently on his last few starts. I had wanted him ridden off the pace for two years before that because he was too keen and I felt he’d get drawn into a battle which he didn’t get drawn into last year. This year I don’t mind how he's ridden and the horse obviously enjoys it [being ridden positively]. He’s stronger and he’s more mature now and I think he’ll be up for it.

"He's come out of the Irish Gold Cup very well and we're very happy. It’s going to be a tip-top Gold Cup I think; we’re in great form."

El Fabiolo did what was expected of him in the Dublin Chase at Leopardstown and is now as short as 2-5 for the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, but Mullins said beating stablemate Dinoblue in the manner he did meant a lot more than met the eye. 

El Fabiolo: ran out an impressive winner at the Dublin Racing FestivalCredit: Patrick McCann

The only concern Mullins has is that last year's Arkle winner may have peaked too soon. He said: "Given the piece of work Dinoblue did leading up to the race, I thought if El Fabiolo missed a beat he would be in trouble and the mare would be on top of him. But he didn't miss a beat and was just so good. 

"Most people probably thought he would be that good anyway, but, when I saw the piece of work she did, I thought he would have to be in some order to beat her. And, then to beat her the way he did, I just hoped he hasn't peaked too soon for the season."

On his expectations for the 2024 festival and whether he can continue to smash more records, perhaps becoming the first trainer to reach 100 winners at the meeting, Mullins said: "I don’t sit here thinking we're going to have four winners the first day, three winners the second day and so on. At Christmas we had no winners at Leopardstown the first day and we had a lot of fancied horses. That can happen. 

"You just have a blowout for some reason, which we did the Christmas before last. We had a bad batch of straw. Something externally can happen without your knowledge until after the event. You’re looking all the time to see what’s different, what’s going wrong. Once the meeting starts, and we get a winner then it settles everyone’s nerves. It’s not about turning up expecting winners. I don’t anyway."

Mullins is 1-8 with William Hill to be the festival's top trainer for a 11th time and he needs just six winners to get to a century. 

Unibet Champion Hurdle (Cheltenham, March 12)

Betfair: 1-3 Constitution Hill, 11-4 State Man, 14 Lossiemouth, 20 Not So Sleepy, 25 Irish Point, 33 bar

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