12 March 2024 , 16:18
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Willie Mullins hailed a superb ride from his stable jockey Paul Townend as he celebrated his fifth Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
The all-time winningest trainer at the Cheltenham Festival took his total score to 96 with State Man’s victory in the £465,000 Unibet-sponsored prize.
Without defending champion Constitution Hill in the field, last year’s runner-up State Man started the 2-5 favourite to land the feature.
The winning margin was just over a length but the dual winner of the Irish Champion Hurdle never looked in danger as he mastered Irish Point after the two raced alongside from the last hurdle.
The Champion Hurdle was the one Festival feature missing from Townend’s big race collection. “State Man is an old favourite of mine and he deserves a big day like this,” said Townend. “He’s a champion back home and only Constitution Hill was too good for him last year. He deserved his day in the sun.
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“This was the one race that was missing here. I had a connection with Hurricane Fly in my early days and I grew up watching Istabraq so to put my name on that list is great.”
Paul Townend won the Champion Hurdle for the first time (Getty Images)Mullins said: “I was surprised the way Paul rode him. I thought he’d be much more forward. I didn’t dream he was going to be fifth or sixth jumping the fourth last.
“It shows he is riding with confidence. I never thought he’d be that far back. I thought he would make more use of his stamina but Paull seemed to ride him for speed.
“When jockeys are riding with confidence they can do things like that. I feel that’s the way he’s been riding all season. He’s a fantastic champion and that ride today was superb. He is probably a better horse around Leopardstown but he is a Champion Hurdle winner.
Constitution Hill was ruled out by a lung infection having raced only once this season. Asked if he would relish a clash with that rival at the Punchestown Festival, Mullins said: “You have to turn up to win a Champion Hurdle, we turned up.”