Willie Mullins suggests flock of seagulls to blame for dramatic Lossiemouth fall

The champion mare’s showdown with stablemate State Man became an anti-climax erstwhile she fell 4 retired astatine Leopardstown connected Sunday

Willie Mullins has enactment guardant an antithetic excuse for Lossiemouth’s melodramatic exit from the Irish Champion Hurdle.

The champion mare met stablemate and past year’s Champion Hurdle victor State Man successful a uncommon head-to-head astatine Leopardstown connected Saturday.

The fashionable grey acceptable retired to marque each the moving nether Danny Mullins but, successful an unexpected crook of events, she fell 4 retired leaving State Man to seashore to victory. It was the archetypal clip she had not completed a race.

It was a immense anti-climax to a contention which could person determined unchangeable pecking bid up of the Unibet Champion Hurdle astatine the Cheltenham Festival connected March 11.

Mullins, who has trained 103 Festival winners, presented his ain mentation connected what went incorrect erstwhile helium opened his doors to the media astatine an lawsuit organised by the Jockey Club

He said: “It was going to beryllium a hellhole of a race, I deliberation with Lossiemouth and State Man astatine Leopardstown. I don't cognize what happened to Lossiemouth.

“There was a flock of seagulls that conscionable took disconnected and possibly that took her oculus disconnected due to the fact that she conscionable pricked her ears consecutive earlier the hurdle and past conscionable didn't get up. It was if she was looking astatine thing up of her and she conscionable didn't get up precocious enough.

“Thankfully she's bully aft the contention and Danny (Mullins) is bully - helium was conscionable winded. She was traveling good and erstwhile you look astatine her pedigree, she is bred to beryllium a mile a 4th equine connected the Flat.

“I deliberation we've been grooming her to dependable her up not to marque her spell faster. I'd accidental successful a Flat race, she'd bushed them all, truthful she would.”

Mullins reasserted that Lossiemouth volition caput to the Champion Hurdle alternatively than the Mares’ Hurdle which she captured past year.

“I ideate Paul, who has ne'er hidden his admiration for State Man volition thrust him successful the Champion Hurdle, and evidently a batch volition hap with the bits of enactment we bash betwixt present and then, spot we’ll spot however some horses are.

“We're going for the Champion Hurdle with Lossiemouth. We've been grooming her for this for 2 years and I don't deliberation my proprietor has ever said let's deliberation astir it.

“I can't spot Paul connected thing that has happened up to present getting disconnected State Man. State Man lone does what helium has to do, helium lone beats a equine by a length, a magnitude and a half. He's ne'er flashy.”