Lossiemouth delivers Champion hurdle gold in breathtaking Punchestown display

Lossiemouth topped a brilliant four-timer for Carlow trainer Willie Mullins with a classy performance that yielded an 11th Grade 1 success when landing the Boodles Champion Hurdle under Paul Townend on day four of the Punchestown Festival.

After claiming victory in the Cheltenham equivalent last month, the seven-year-old mare showed her class when easing to the front before the flight of hurdles to stride clear of the English trained duo Golden Ace and Wilful, to win head in chest by five lengths.

Sent off the warm long odds on favourite for the Ricci’s, the wonder mare settled in third spot behind the front running Golden Ace as she jumped from hurdle to hurdle. As the pace lifted in the race, Townend sat tight to leave Lossiemouth cruise into the lead before striding out a ready winner for Team Closutton.

It was a clear cut success for the grey mare as she ensured Willie Mullins’ dominance on the day four feature as he won it for the fourth year running after State Man’s hat-trick in the race from 2023-25. The win ensured a four-timer for Mullins and a treble for Paul Townend after success for Dinoblue, Funiculi Funicula, and King Rasko Grey.

Reacting to the win afterwards, jockey Paul Townend said: “We’ll have to go a long way to find another one like her, won’t we?. She’s so simple now and you can put her wherever you want in a race. You can line her up wherever you want and do whatever is presented to you.

“She locked on leaving the back straight and I was trying to keep it as simple as I could. You can often end up complicating it more than you have to.

“I trust her so much. She has so much ability that you just don’t want to be part of a hard-luck story. Once I grabbed a hold of her, she was alive underneath me. She was dynamite.” Describing Lossiemouth as his ‘favourite horse of all time’, Rich Ricci said: ““It’s a dream season, you dream of these things, but to be living in it, it’s so nervous.

“We’ve had a lot of great horses who haven’t gone on over time, but this one just keeps on doing it. She’s incredible. She’s just a lovely, lovely mare and the longevity of her is great. I loved Annie Power and she was my favourite for a long time, but I just love this mare.” “It’s a dream season, you dream of these things, but I can tell you living it it’s so hard as you get so nervous. It’s an amazing season, we’ve had some lovely horses in the past but this one is something special and I’m very appreciative.

“She’s incredible, she’s a lovely, lovely mare. Hopefully we’re back at Cheltenham next year and maybe here again.”