State Man is out for the season after sustaining an injury on the gallops at Closutton on Wednesday morning.
Willie Mullins’ brilliant hurdler was being prepared for a potential return to action in the Morgiana Hurdle later in the month, but the trainer told Sporting Life: “Sadly State Man has suffered a tendon injury on the gallops here. He’ll definitely be out for the rest of the season.”
The eight-year-old has been a giant of the two-mile hurdling division in recent campaigns, winning the 2024 Unibet Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham and falling at the last with this year’s renewal at his mercy.
He last ran when winning the Boodles Champion Hurdle at Punchestown on May 2 where he beat the Champion Hurdle winner Golden Ace by four-and-three-quarter lengths.
The news is a big blow to Mullins with State Man trading as a 6/1 chance for the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival before the setback.
Mullins does have a rich array of hurdlers to choose from for races like that, though, with Lossiemouth and Anzadam, the latter owned by State Man's owners Joe and Marie Donnelly, both prominent in the revised betting for the two-mile championship in March.
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