The Betway ambassador reflects on the glittering career of State Man following the 12-time Grade 1 winner's retirement.
I know that, for many, State Man really burst onto the scene at Cheltenham in the County Hurdle back in 2022, but he actually arrived at Closutton from France the previous year, and we always thought plenty of him. He fell at Leopardstown on his first start for us when he really should have won, which was far from ideal, but he then made no mistake under Richard Deegan at Limerick, and I think the County Hurdle looked the inevitable target for him after that.
We probably had higher hopes for him at the start of that season, but he ended up in the County sort of by accident. Off that opening mark of 141, we felt it would take a good one to stop him. People said he was a graded horse in a handicap, which we can now say was true with the benefit of hindsight, but you wouldn’t know for sure at that point when all he’d done for us was win a maiden hurdle.
It was when he went to Punchestown for the two-and-a-half-mile Grade 1 and really stepped forward again that we realised we had a really special horse on our hands. Even then, though, to go and win the Morgiana, the Matheson Hurdle and the Irish Champion Hurdle the following season was some achievement, and the manner in which he was winning those races was really taking. They might have been small fields, but he had Sharjah, Vauban and of course Honeysuckle behind him in a few of those races, so those were serious performances.
We then headed to Cheltenham for the big one, and although we knew Constitution Hill was a bit of a monster, we went there knowing we had a horse more than capable of winning a Champion Hurdle. I’ll be honest, I was never truly happy on him that day, and I don’t know if we’d ever have been able to beat Nicky’s horse, but he just didn’t give me the same feel as he had in Ireland throughout the winter and I was never comfortable, in truth. I don’t want to downplay what Constitution Hill did that day, though, because it probably was a bit of a freak performance, but I definitely feel I could have got closer to him if we were on a going day.
I’m so glad he got his Champion Hurdle the following season, and while people might say it wasn’t the strongest renewal, all he ever did was beat what was in front of him. He wasn’t always the flashiest, and that might be why he’s never got the recognition I think he deserves, but sitting on his back in those Grade 1s he was just relentless, and nothing really bothered him. He ran 19 times for us, the vast majority at Grade 1 level, and he was only beaten twice when he stood up, so it’s a record up there with the very best hurdlers we’ve ever seen.
I wouldn’t have had many more devastating days in the saddle than when he came down at the last the following year at Cheltenham, because that was the day when I thought he was going to show everybody what I’d always felt from the saddle. You’d put your grandmother on him, because he was that straightforward over an obstacle, so to topple over that day in the fashion we did was just gutting. It was a matter of inches, as well – it wasn’t a massive mistake – and I’ll never know how he managed it, but racing is a funny old game.
If you just watched him on the TV at home and saw the stamp of him, you’d say, “jeez, he’ll jump a fence no problem,” but he just mopped up a lot of those Grade 1 hurdles in Ireland. When you’ve got one as good as him capable of winning that prize money, why would you want to risk that? I think the Donnellys were giving his prize money to charity every time, as well, so he’ll have done a lot of good and raised a lot of money for some very deserving causes over the years.
Riding him in those Grade 1s was sometimes like riding a good one of Willie’s in a maiden hurdle. He just made it look so easy, and he was so straightforward. He was so relaxed it was ridiculous, and you’d just go down to the start without a worry, because although those Grade 1s in Ireland can be very tactical, he’d be just as happy making the running as he was taking a lead,. That makes life so much easier as a jockey when you’re not relying on what other people might or might not do.
Statistically, people would say Hurricane Fly was the best hurdler I’ve ever ridden, but Ruby took him off me, whereas I was there all the way through State Man’s career, so I’d have to say he’s my number one. We’ve had many great two-mile hurdlers at Closutton, and hopefully we’ll have a few more over the coming years, but whether we’ll ever have one that will do things as straightforward and as easily as State Man, I’m not so sure.
