Lossiemouth (4-6 Favourite) won at her third Festival in succession when repeating her success of 2024 in the Grade One Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle. The six-year-old grey also win the JCB Triumph Hurdle in 2023.

Today the 4-6 Favourite vindicated the decision of connections to swerve the Unibet Hurdle as she sauntered home seven and a half lengths to the good over stablemate Jade De Grugy.

Mullins said: “As a trainer, and a professional, I didn’t see the work to run her in a Champion Hurdle, which disappointed me on the day, but we had the alternative to come here and that has worked.

“You have to look at Rich Ricci’s team which hasn’t had a great season this season. We all gauge ourselves by Cheltenham. I wasn’t sure he had a live chance of a winner, but she was a live chance of a winner so made the decision to change races.

“I was disappointed to change our mind on a two year plan, but it was the correct decision for the connections.

“These owners that we have, and people that have runners here, it is all about coming here and having a winner.

“Paul (Townend) wasn’t going to ride her in the Champion Hurdle and when Paul said he wasn’t going to ride her in the Champion Hurdle that was enough of a pointer for most people.

“I was very happy where they were placed in the race. There was no pace and Danny (Mullins) said he would make the running on Jade De Grugy, and she has run a cracker for Kenny Alexander and there are bigger days ahead of her too.

“The heart did skip a beat when I saw how fast she was travelling coming down to the last. I thought ‘Oh my God!’, but anyhow she got over it alright.

“I’m not going to open my mouth again about the Champion Hurdle! That is her third win at Cheltenham and that puts her in a different league to most horses.

“If we want to see that battle they can come to Ireland and take her on or we might go to Aintree and run in the Aintree Hurdle. It doesn’t have to be all about one day here.

“There are other opportunities to meet both sides of the waters.

“She is a mare with a nice pedigree. At the moment Rich probably has mares for racing rather than breeding.

“If a breeder owned her she would probably be retired to stud, but I would say as she is in the pink and green spots she will probably race on for another season at least.

“To have that type of talent at your disposal is fantastic.”

Paul Townend said: Paul Townend replied: “She actually wasn’t too bad to be fair, she carried me. We were going no gallop. I know second favourite Jade De Grugy is decent and I wasn’t going to give her a free rein.

“She’s a high class mare. We went a fair gallop for a while at Leopardstown the last day, so she was probably expecting that again when we jumped off, but she was fine.”

Willie Mullins – 105 Festival wins
Paul Townend – 36 Festival wins

Owner Rich Ricci said: “I’m feeling well. We campaigned her as a Champion Hurdle horse and she won first time out. At Christmas she was disappointing, but she did really run her race and she wasn’t right so we didn’t learn what we hoped to learn there.

“At the Dublin Racing Festival we were hoping to learn something different and she had that terrible fall. I asked Paul (Townend), who doesn’t get involved in this kind of thing, has she given you any reason to get off State Man and he said no.

“The logical choice was if she couldn’t beat State Man she wasn’t going to mix it with the other ones so let’s go this way. It is still a Grade One and that is out 100th Grade One with Willie which is fantastic.

“She is only six years old so we will see what happens next season. It just wasn’t the most untroubled passage and I think we made the right decision.

“Some people might not like it, but we have to act for the interest of the horse.

“I’ve not seen the race. I just had people say she was going well. Maybe she is a two and a half mile horse, I don’t know?

“Next year is up for grabs and Punchestown is up for grabs.

“This has been our worst season I can remember and I think we have had five winners from 60 winners. It happens, and I’m not moaning. It has been a struggling year and we are having to re-stock. This is a nice tonic as it is always great to win here.”

Danny Mullins, rider of runner-up Jade De Grugy, said: “Good run from Jade De Grugy. Probably drying ground was a help to Lossiemouth, but near on a career best from Jade De Grugy.”

Dan Skelton, trainer of the third Take No Chances, said: “I’m very, very happy with her and her whole season, to be honest. She’s run brilliantly. If you’d run the race a million times the best we could ever be was second, and we nearly were. Lossiemouth is just in a different league, but we’re very happy with Take No Chances.

“She tries so hard, and I’m very proud. We could run her again - we’ll consider Sandown; we may even enter that mares’ race at Punchestown. We’ll have a think.”