STATE MAN TO TAKE FINAL BOW AT PUNCHESTOWN ON MORGIANA DAY

Retired champion hurdler State Man is to say a final goodbye to the Punchestown crowd with a lap of honour on Saturday 21 November, returning to the track where he was all but unbeatable.

The Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old will appear in the parade ring at around 1.50pm on the opening day of Punchestown's Premiere Weekend, shortly before the William Hill Morgiana Hurdle, a race he won in successive years. The two-day fixture concludes on the Sunday with the John Durkan Memorial Chase.

A CAREER BUILT ON KILDARE TURF

Few top-class horses have been so closely tied to one course. State Man was beaten only once in seven visits to the County Kildare venue, and his six wins there included three renewals of the Punchestown Champion Hurdle.

His overall record reads 14 victories from 20 starts, with 12 of those successes coming at Grade One level. The high point arrived in the 2024 Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, and he also lifted the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown three times. Paul Townend was on board for all but one of his wins.

Confirmation that he would not race again came in late October, after the chestnut failed to recover from the tendon injury that had cost him the entire 2025-26 campaign. Mullins described him as a "fantastic servant to Closutton".

A LEGACY BEYOND THE TRACK

Owners Joe and Marie Donnelly have ensured his earnings did good away from the racecourse too, donating his prize money to the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund's State Man Arts Therapy Programme, which supports dialysis patients at hospitals in Tallaght, Wexford, Waterford, Galway and Portlaoise.

Andrew McCleave, head of marketing at William Hill Ireland, said State Man "has provided countless special moments for racing fans", and the Morgiana Hurdle card now offers those supporters one last chance to salute him. Two-day tickets for the meeting are available at €35 until Sunday 15 November.