Irish Champion Hurdle (Grade 1)

THERE was an overriding sense of ‘what if’ as State Man (5/4) crossed the line in the Irish Champion Hurdle, recording his third consecutive win in Sunday’s feature. Crowds of racing fans had been expecting a humdinger of a match between Paul Townend’s mount and stablemate Lossiemouth (8/11 favourite), only for the favourite and Danny Mullins to crash out at the sixth flight.