State Man and Lossiemouth could clash in the 2025 Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on day two of the Dublin Racing Festival on Sunday 2nd February, as the pair feature among six horses entered for the Grade 1 prize. Four of the sextet are trained by Willie Mullins.
Mullins will be eager to see State Man return to the form that has seen him win this race for the last two years and a third victory in this would see him join the greats such as Istabraq, Hurricane Fly and Honeysuckle. However, the reigning Champion Hurdler has found it tough this season, as having been narrowly outbattled by Brighterdaysahead in the Morgiana Hurdle on his comeback run, he was then trounced by Gordon Elliott’s star mare again at Leopardstown over Christmas.
Irish Gold Cup Runners 2025 – Hat-Trick Seeking Galopin Des Champs Among 11 Confirmations
11 confirmations have been made for the 2025 edition of the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival on Saturday 1st February. The 3m contest is run at Leopardstown and has been won for the last two years at strong odds-on prices by Galopin Des Champs, who is unsurprisingly entered in an attempt for…
Tue 28 Jan 2025Now nine years old, State Man is looking to return to the top of the two-mile Irish hurdling division with victory in this contest and using this race as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival and a crack at Constitution Hill and retaining his Champion Hurdle crown. However, this season’s foe in the shape of Brighterdaysahead is set to try and lower his colours once again.
Lossiemouth could be set to join him for this contest having skipped a possible clash with Constitution Hill in the International Hurdle. She will be looking to bounce back from a damning defeat in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, where she bumped into an on-song Constitution Hill.
The remaining Closutton-base duo are Winter Fog, who ran on past State Man to finish second in the Nevills Hotel Hurdle behind Brighterdaysahead at Christmas, and Daddy Long Legs, who could also carry the colours of the Donnelly family. He is a Grade 3 winner in the past, as is Gordon Elliott’s Fils d’Oudairies, while Senecia is likely to be the rank outsider in the line-up.
2025 Irish Champion Hurdle Entries
| Number | Horse | Trainer |
| 1 | Daddy Long Legs | Willie Mullins |
| 2 | Fils D’Oudairies | Gordon Elliott |
| 3 | Senecia | Vincent Halley |
| 4 | State Man | Willie Mullins |
| 5 | Winter Fog | Willie Mullins |
| 6 | Lossiemouth | Willie Mullins |
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