'You should never knock a horse for one bad run' - Lossiemouth and State Man lock horns in fascinating Irish Champion Hurdle

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Willie Mullins has made no secret of the fact State Man remains number one in the Closutton Champion Hurdle pecking order and Paul Townend clearly agrees. 

Townend has gone against the market and stayed loyal to State Man, despite the fact nothing has shown up to explain his lethargic effort in the Neville Hotels Hurdle at the track over Christmas. Brighterdaysahead pinched a few lengths early and the gap kept widening as the race wore on. 

Not only did State Man get beaten, he never looked like landing a blow on the new superstar mare at any stage. It was something we have never seen from State Man before. Can we forgive him for that dismal display? Mullins can, even though no excuse was put forward afterwards. It was, quite simply, an off day. 

The champion trainer said: "State Man didn't turn up at Leopardstown over Christmas and we were very disappointed. I don't know why and hopefully we can get him back to himself. We're happy with what he's doing at home.

"Brighterdaysahead put in some performance and I was in awe of it. However, you should never knock a horse for one bad run and he's always been our number one contender for the Champion Hurdle."

Mullins might think State Man is his number one, but the market does not agree. Not only is he the outsider of the big two for the Irish Champion Hurdle, but you can back last year's champion at 10-1 with Betfair to defend his crown in March. That could change here. 

Danny Mullins: 'She'll give State Man plenty to think about'

Danny Mullins was on board for Lossiemouth's Irish debut and, over two years after that sparkling Fairyhouse success, he has been reunited with the magnificent mare after Townend stuck with State Man. 

Willie's nephew has proved to be the supersub time and time again on these big days and he won the first three Grade 1 races at the 2024 Dublin Racing Festival. 

The rider said of Lossiemouth: "We hoped that she could beat Constitution Hill last time but it just didn't happen. That said, she lost very little in defeat and, if anything, she'll have learnt from that. It was a real speed test at Kempton and she galloped home quite well.

"She's a fantastic ride to get and, fingers crossed, she'll give State Man plenty to think about and hopefully beat him."

Lossiemouth: found only Constitution Hill too good over ChristmasCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Lossiemouth arrives here on the back of a Christmas Hurdle defeat to Constitution Hill and connections swerved a chance of round two in the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham last weekend to come here instead. 

Willie Mullins said of her Christmas defeat: "When she went to Kempton she just couldn't handle the pace because we had been settling her in those two-and-a-half-mile races. As soon as the tapes went up, I knew we weren't competitive.

"To me, the race was gone before she hit the first hurdle and I thought she ran well considering the pace she jumped off at and what we had been teaching her the last couple of years. It will be different here and we've sharpened her up at home."

What they say 

Willie Mullins, trainer of Daddy Long Legs and Winter Fog
Winter Fog ran a cracker at Christmas and hopefully can run a similar race again. Daddy Long Legs was behind him in the Morgiana and hopefully he can bounce back from that and put up a good performance.

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Fils D'Oudairies
I thought he actually ran well behind Constitution Hill last Saturday and wasn't beaten far. He's been a great horse over the years and, while he's obviously very much up against it, he never lets us down and will run his race again.

Read our Sunday previews...

Paul Townend thinks State Man is still the one - but this might be one of those rare occasions he gets it wrong 

1.10 Leopardstown: No Sir Gino and he's up in trip - so can Ballyburn get his mojo back after Kempton thumping?  

1.40 Leopardstown: Kopek Des Bordes the one to beat - but will his Willie Mullins-trained stablemate who 'could be anything' spoil the party?  

2.10 Leopardstown: 'I think he'll be bang there' - who believes they can derail the Mullins juggernaut in Dublin Chase?  

2.25 Musselburgh: 'He still has some improvement in him off his mark' - Grand National possibles line up for Edinburgh equivalent at Musselburgh  

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