A crashing fall suffered by his stablemate Lossiemouth allowed State Man to come home in splendid isolation and claim his third victory in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown.
The feature event on day two of the Dublin Racing Festival was billed as a straight shootout between the Willie Mullins-trained duo, with Lossiemouth the marginal favourite at 8-11 after finishing behind the brilliant Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day.
State Man (5-4) had also come up short over the festive period, finishing a distant third behind Brighterdaysahead, but Paul Townend kept the faith in the reigning champion, allowing Danny Mullins to ride Lossiemouth for the first time since her Irish debut three years ago.
From flag-fall the big two dominated, with Lossiemouth and State Man quickly building up a huge advantage over the other three runners.
The decisive moment came in the back straight as Lossiemouth was still in a narrow lead when she made a bad mistake and fell four flights from home, very nearly bringing down State Man in the process.
Townend kept the partnership intact, however, and the race was effectively over from there as State Man coasted home to beat another Mullins runner, Daddy Long Legs, by six and a half lengths.
Mullins said: “Both jockeys went out with no instructions and I was happy to let them do what they wanted, ride their own horse and their own race.
“They were setting it up to be a hell of a race. What happened is disappointing for Rich (Ricci, owner of Lossiemouth), it’s disappointing for the public and it’s disappointing for us all. It was just one of those things and Paul said he was lucky not to be brought down.
“Paul was happier that State Man was back to himself. He only does whatever he has to do, and only wins a length or two when he’s right.
“Paul never waivered from him. There was never any question which horse he was going to ride today.”
Paddy Power trimmed State Man’s odds to win a second Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham to 7-1 from 8-1, with Lossiemouth pushed out slightly to 4-1 from 11-4. Former champion Constitution Hill is the 4-7 favourite to regain his crown.
Lossiemouth walked away from her exit unscathed and while her rider was gingerly holding his arm in the immediate aftermath, he did ride in the next race.
Of Lossiemouth, her trainer said: “When she won the Hatton’s Grace at Fairyhouse she was running at a four-mile pace and we always settled her in behind because she was so keen.
“She is bred to be way faster than State Man, but in the Christmas Hurdle she just wasn’t used to that fast pace that they go around Kempton. I didn’t think that was anything to do with zest, it was just to do with the way we’d been teaching her to race.
“I haven’t spoken to Rich, but our plan has always been to go for the Champion Hurdle and unless they have a change of heart, I’m happy she can still go for a Champion Hurdle.”
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