State Man, who was denied a repeat success in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March when he fell at the final flight, gained a measure of compensation on Friday evening as he recorded a third successive win in Punchestown’s equivalent of the two-mile championship event. His task, though, was certainly made easier by a bitterly disappointing performance from Constitution Hill, the 2023 Champion Hurdle winner and odds-on favourite here, who beat only one of his five opponents home.
The race was billed as a rematch of the last meeting between Constitution Hill, State Man and Golden Ace in the Champion Hurdle, which proved to be one of the most dramatic runnings of a championship event in living memory. Constitution Hill, unbeaten in 10 starts and odds-on there as well, fell midway through the race while State Man crashed out with the race at his mercy, leaving Jeremy Scott’s outsider, Golden Ace, to take the spoils.
