State Man and Willie Mullins. A match made in sporting heaven. A pair of winning machines that never let you down.
Two ultimate professionals that get the job done with the minimum of fuss.
Throw in jockey Paul Townend and you have the dream team.
A team that enjoyed another day of days on this iconic side of a hill in Gloucestershire with three Grade 1 wins in the Arkle, Champion Hurdle and Mares’ Hurdle.
But it was State Man that was the sweetest and undoubtedly the most important.
The Champion Hurdle winning trophy hasn’t been hoisted by Mullins since 2016 but he had his hands on it again for the fifth time, with Townend winning his first, joining an elite club in completing the set of all four Championship races at Cheltenham.
Team Mullins are the unstoppable force in National Hunt racing and now need just three more winners on Wednesday to hit that century of Festival successes.
It shouldn’t take long. Ballyburn and Fact File are long odds on for the two openers and their form was franked in spectacular style on Tuesday by Slade Steel and Gaelic Warrior - the first of Mullins’ four winners.
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And then there’s El Fabiolo in the Champion Chase.
Mullins is a Manchester United supporter and unusually he compared his seven-year-old gelding to Old Trafford legend Paul Scholes.
Reliable, dependable, not flashy and always wants to race.
“Horses are like footballers, they can be on the injury list. We have so many at home that are hurt. But look at this fella, if he was playing football I’d say he’d be playing every match in the Premiership on a Sunday, every minute of them.
“He’d be scoring goals too. He’s the lynchpin, the solid guy on the team.
The race was of course something of Hamlet without the prince.
Last year’s Champion Hurdler Constitution Hill’s injury stole us of the showdown we all wanted to see but State Man turned up as usual and delivered
Nothing fancy. He just wins.
Tuesday was his 11th win for Mullins. Nine have come in Grade 1 races and his prize-money earned for owner Joe Donnelly is now just short of €1.5m.
“There’s no wow factor with State Man, and you don't go wow when you look at him either, but he does what it says on the tin,” added the 67-year-old Mullins.
“He’s that type of horse. It’s very hard to be wow in that ground, but he’s a good solid, sound horse and he just gives his running every time. He’s a hardy horse and a tough horse, and a few more like him wouldn’t do any harm.”
Asked if he would relish a clash if Constitution Hill turned up at Punchestown, Mullins said: “You’ve got to turn to win a Champion Hurdle. We turned up.
“He’s probably a better horse around Leopardstown, but he’s a Champion Hurdle winner.”
State Man was sent-off a red hot 2-5 favourite in a race that went perfectly to plan for Townend - enjoying an untroubled run on the inside rail and producing him to pass Irish Point approaching the last.
The Gordon Elliott trained runner-up battled on gamely to get to within a length and a quarter with Lucia two and a quarter lengths back in third.
“I was amazed with the way Paul rode him, I thought he’d be much more forward, I didn’t dream that he’d only be fifth or sixth jumping the fourth-last. But he just rode him with supreme confidence,” said Mullins, who had won the Champion Hurdle in the past with Hurricane Fly (2011 & 2013), Faugheen (2014) and Annie Power (2016).
“I thought he’d make more use of his stamina, but Paul seemed to ride him for speed today and he clearly felt there was enough in the ground to take it out of the horses in front of him.
“But when jockeys are riding with confidence, they can do things like that and I feel that’s the way he’s been riding all season. He’s a fantastic jockey.”
Bookmakers were stung by the Mullins treble with Boylesports reporting: “That day is going to sting for a while. The Willie Mullins bankers continue to blow us, and any chance of coming out ahead, away. It's only day one but it could be a long week as we continue to battle it out with the punters!”
Mullins was back in the winners’ enclosure 40 minutes later when Lossiemouth added the Mares’ Hurdle to her Triumph Hurdle success 12 months ago - and could now be set for a clash with her Champion Hurdle winning stablemate.
“She is a Champion Hurdle mare, I think. Once again, Paul was just so cool on her. She can improve, she can go on, a year older, running like that in that ground, the way she jumps, she's got everything.”
There had been calls for Mullins to reroute Lossiemouth to the Champion Hurdle following the withdrawal of Constitution HIll but Mullins was adamant he made the right call.
“We made the right decision, end of story, because she didn’t get a grueller in the Champion Hurdle. She won as comfortable as she liked, she’s only five, and getting a grueller in the Champion Hurdle as a five-year-old mare isn’t what you should do with them.”
“She’ll be trained for Punchestown, and then I’ll chat to Rich and Susannah and I imagine the Champion Hurdle.”
It’s a race jump racing fans will already be drooling over.
A hopefully fit again Constitution Hill taking on State Man and Lossiemouth in 2025.
And then there’s Ballyburn. Bring it on!
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