Third Grade 1 for State Man

It was a mixed afternoon on Thursday for a couple of last season's Top 40 Prospects. State Man claimed his third Grade 1 victory of his relatively short career when taking the Matheson Hurdle under Paul Townend. The former County Hurdle winner was a ready winner of the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown last month and he was pushed out to beat stable companion Vauban by four and a quarter lengths here. The winner is evidently a very good horse who is improving with each start and has quickly established himself as a legitimate Champion Hurdle contender. However, I wouldn't be in a rush to dismiss the runner-up who is only four and was making his seasonal reappearance. Vauban had been absent for 243 days and was mixing it against older rivals for the first time. Connections of last season's Triumph Hurdle were adamant he would need the outing at Leopardstown and there are reasons to believe it will be much closer between the pair when they meet again in the Irish Champion Hurdle over the same C&D at the Dublin Racing Festival in early February. 

The saddest news of the day came half an hour earlier when Grade 1 winning novice hurdler Three Stripe Life lost his life in the Neville Hotels Novice Chase. Gordon Elliott's six year old had made a complete of significant mistakes before paying the ultimate price when crashing to the floor at the second last. His County Meath stable had 9 winners over the Festive period, including two Grade 1 successes but Thursday proved a day to forget with 0 winners from 13 runners and the lose of one of the yard's most exciting novice chasers.

During the four days in Ireland between 26th - 29th December, Willie Mullins trained 16 winners from 72 runners, including a handful of Grade 1 victories.