State Man will have to see off a new rival in the shape of the resurgent Bob Olinger and three others if he is to record a repeat success in the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle, one of four Grade 1 races at Leopardstown on Sunday.

After a gap of 20 months, Bob Olinger found winning form again to score at Navan in November and he followed up for Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore in even more authoritative fashion at Cheltenham on New Year's Day. Now bidding for a first success over two miles, Bob Olinger comes up against a trio from the Willie Mullins stable, the country’s top hurdler State Man, Impaire Et Passe and the mare Echoes In Rain. The Gordon Elliott-trained Fils D'oudairies completes the line up.