With Constitution Hill unable to defend his crown, State Man appears to have been presented with a gilt-edged opportunity to claim Unibet Champion Hurdle glory on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival.

The seven-year-old has met with defeat only once since joining Willie Mullins – and that was when left trailing in the wake of Nicky Henderson’s brilliant hurdler 12 months ago.

State Man has since won a second Morgiana Hurdle, a second Matheson Hurdle and a second Irish Champion Hurdle, taking his overall tally of Grade One victories to eight.

Last month, hopes appeared high within the Mullins camp that the chestnut gelding could at least make more of a race of it with Constitution Hill this time around, and it is undoubtedly a bitter blow to the race that the rematch will not take place after the reigning champion was ruled out.

In his absence, State Man will be cramped odds to provide Mullins with a fifth Champion Hurdle triumph following the previous victories of dual winner Hurricane Fly, Faugheen and Annie Power – but the trainer himself is taking nothing for granted.

“He looks a worthy favourite and hopefully he can prove himself to be a proper favourite,” Mullins said on the Cheltenham gallops on Monday morning.

“He’s been doing everything right, so it would be great if he could win a Champion Hurdle, but nothing is a given when you come over here.”

Paul Townend has steered State Man to all but one of his 10 career wins so far and the leading rider hopes he can continue his winning streak on his return to the Cotswolds.

He said: “He’s been excellent this season, hopefully he can keep it going for another day.

“This is his third time here, so he knows the run of the place already.”

The biggest threat to the red-hot favourite is Gordon Elliott’s Irish Point, who for much of the season looked set to contest the Stayers’ Hurdle later in the week.

However, with Constitution Hill not in attendance and Elliott and owners Robcour already responsible for a major Stayers’ Hurdle contender in the form of Teahupoo, they have decided to split their aces.

“If you take the favourite out of it, it looks an open race. I think there’s only two horses in the race under about 10-1, so we have to take our chance,” said Elliott.

“I’m not worried about the trip.”

Henderson has won the Champion Hurdle on a record nine occasions and despite Constitution Hill’s defection, the Seven Barrows handler fires a twin assault, with his supplemented Betfair Hurdle winner Iberico Lord joined by high-class mare Luccia.

Regarding Iberico Lord, Henderson told Unibet: “As everyone knows, this was definitely not the original plan, but circumstances have meant he now slots into this, and our decision was also swayed by the fact that the ground is going to be softer in the early part of the week.

“Obviously, he has to improve dramatically to beat the likes of State Man, but his victory in the Greatwood Hurdle has worked out particularly well, as has his win at Newbury last time, so the form is strong, and he is an improving horse who deserves to be there.”

He added of Luccia: “She is the most wonderful person to have around the place and her owner has always been keen to run her in the Champion Hurdle, so here we are!

“Her form is very good all the way through, anyway, and she receives a 7lb sex allowance which is a big help. We haven’t seen her since December; therefore, she arrives here a fresh mare and I’m hopeful she can run a nice race.”

The home team also includes Kerry Lee’s Nemean Lion and Hughie Morrison’s admirable veteran Not So Sleepy, who has been kept fresh for this race since landing the rescheduled Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown in early December.

The 12-year-old’s title-chasing jockey Sean Bowen said: “State Man obviously looks the one, but there doesn’t look too much beyond him.

“I schooled Not So Sleepy last week and he was in great form with himself, so hopefully we can play a part. Hughie thinks he’s in great form.

“It was the absolute best, a brilliant day when he won the Fighting Fifth and it’s great to have horses like him still winning Grade Ones.

“Everyone will be watching him and willing him on, so it will be fun.”

Mullins sends over a youthful second string in Zarak The Brave, while it would be a mystery of Cluedo proportions if Lorna Fowler’s outsider Colonel Mustard comes out on top.

Kerry Lee is prepared to roll the dice and allow Nemean Lion to take his chance in the Unibet Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The seven-year-old has had a successful campaign so far, which began in October when he won the Welsh Champion Hurdle by a length and a half on debut.

He was fifth in the Greatwood at Cheltenham next time out and then ran an admirable race under a considerable amount of weight to finish the runner-up when stepping up in trip in the Lanzarote.

The Golden Horn gelding then tried Grade Two level to contest the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton, a scaling back in trip as the race is run over a mile and seven furlongs.

There he was the 6-5 favourite under Richard Patrick and justified those odds when securing a length and a half success over fellow Champion Hurdle entrant Colonel Mustard.

The success has seen his mark rise from 145 to 151, and he is set to take his spot in a Champion Hurdle that this year might prove just more open than initially presumed.

“He’s been really good since Wincanton, he came out of the race very well,” said Lee, speaking before the market for the race was disrupted by the news that reigning hero Constitution Hill was a doubt after a below-par racecourse gallop on Tuesday morning.

“He loved the conditions and ran a great race, it was lovely to watch and we were really pleased with him.

“He wasn’t stopping at the end of the Lanzarote but he relished the two miles too, you’d have to say he was even better over the two.

“It’s all systems go for the Cheltenham Festival now, his target is going to be the Champion Hurdle.

“There are very few options for him and as long as the ground is good to soft or softer, he will run.

“It looks to be wide open for third and realistically in racing, anything can happen.

“I think off 151 he deserves the chance to prove himself so we can see what he can do.

“It is a pleasure to have such a good horse, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that he can go and run a good race but as long as he comes back safe and well then we’ll be happy.”

Constitution Hill sent shockwaves through the Unibet Champion Hurdle market on Tuesday morning, with the participation of the reigning champion seemingly in doubt following a below-par workout in a pre-Cheltenham visit to Kempton Park.

As has become tradition, Nicky Henderson took several of his Festival contenders for a spin at the Sunbury circuit, including the unbeaten Constitution Hill, whose only start this season was in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Bookmakers were quick to suspend betting in the wake of the work, and the Seven Barrows trainer told the PA news agency his superstar had since scoped badly.

“Unfortunately, in a routine gallop this morning, Constitution Hill was very disappointing and it transpires, after the vet has scoped him, that there is evidence of mucus,” said Henderson.

“We’re taking a sample of it to a laboratory to analyse it, which will tell us about the significance of it and we should know more after that.

“Last week, he worked brilliantly and he was scoped 10 days ago, but these things happen, just like it did with him earlier in the year (having to miss Cheltenham on Trials day in January).

“Horses are like humans, look how many people had the awful cough around Christmas that took ages to get rid of.”

Hughie Morrison reports Not So Sleepy to be firmly on course for next month’s Unibet Champion Hurdle after going up the Lambourn gallops “like a rocket” on Wednesday morning.

The mud-loving veteran has won 11 times over jumps and on the Flat combined, most recently proving the fire still burns bright despite his advancing years when claiming Grade One honours in a rescheduled Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown in December.

Morrison has since given his 12-year-old a winter break and is now beginning to turn the screw ahead of what will be his fifth tilt at Champion Hurdle glory in just under three weeks’ time.

“I went away last week and I came back and thought he was looking rather fat, which is a good sign because you want them to be doing well,” said the trainer.

“Over the last year or 18 months we’ve taken him to Lambourn the odd time, because we’ve been snowed in or something like that, and he actually had a nice gallop in Lambourn this morning.

“Thanks to the people in Lambourn who accommodated us, he had a spin up The Long gallop and he went up there like a rocket.”

Not So Sleepy was pulled up in his first Champion Hurdle four years ago and has finished fifth in the last three renewals, twice behind Honeysuckle and once behind Constitution Hill.

With Constitution Hill and last year’s runner-up State Man again set to be in opposition, Morrison is under no illusions about the task facing his charge on March 12, but he is happy to roll the dice and will be praying for testing conditions on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival.

“I’m sure they will start quivering in their boots when they hear Sleepy is running,” he joked.

“We’d like a day like today on Tuesday March 12! Hopefully we get wet ground to make it hard work so the speed horses can’t quicken away from him. We also need Constitution Hill and State Man probably to have a day off.

“We are realistic, but at this moment in time I’m very happy with him.”

He added: “He’s lucky he’s not in a Willie Mullins or Gordon Elliott yard as he probably wouldn’t be running, would he? He’d be running in a County Hurdle or being saved for an egg and spoon race the week before or something.

“I know that sounds cynical, but I think the interest in Cheltenham is waning a bit because of the monopolisation. When you watch the Grand National weights yesterday, I found that deeply depressing.”

Nico de Boinville knows Constitution Hill’s electrifying jumping leaves “no margin for error” – particularly in the white-hot cauldron of the Unibet Champion Hurdle.

Nicky Henderson’s star is chasing a second successive win in the race having demolished State Man by nine lengths last year.

There are those who feel State Man has enjoyed a better preparation this term, and he has won four Grade Ones since that reverse while Constitution Hill has only been seen once since April.

However, De Boinville has full faith that Henderson is the right man for getting a horse to peak on the big day.

“I couldn’t have been happier with him at Kempton. State Man has gone and done what he does on that side of the Irish Sea, but there are still four weeks to go and you are just keeping all fingers crossed,” De Boinville told talkSPORT2.

“I’ve been going there before with the likes of Altior and at the last minute things go wrong, so you are just hoping everything goes right and we have a very good prep.”

Regarding his mount’s incredible jumping technique he went on: “You really do feel like there’s no margin for error because you are going so fast, you are literally just clipping the top bar. You are going very, very quick and there will be no exception in the Champion Hurdle, it’s going to be run at a very good pace and hopefully the right horse wins.

“He’s (Henderson) definitely not one to doubt. If the weather hadn’t stopped us, he would have had two runs and no one would be saying anything as he’d have gone to the Fighting Fifth and Christmas Hurdle, so ultimately we were stopped because of the weather.

“Hopefully he’ll be busy enough in the spring, you can go to Aintree and Punchestown after Cheltenham if he comes through it well.”

Henderson and De Boinville enjoyed a good day at Newbury on Saturday when Iberico Lord won the feature Betfair Hurdle, but perhaps more importantly Shishkin booked his Gold Cup ticket with a straightforward win after an interrupted season.

De Boinville said: “It was very encouraging. I heard someone refer to him as an inconsistent horse, but I tend to disagree with that. Once he sets off he tends to put up really good runs and more often than not he’s somewhere near the winner’s enclosure.

“I had no doubts on Saturday, from the point I got on him in the paddock he was raring to go and wanted to get on with it. As soon as I lined up he was happy, the tapes went up and away he went.

“I was happy with him, he took a good blow as well so it was a really good prep race for him going towards the Gold Cup.

“One thing that Shishkin does do is finish strong, over three miles or two. He’s quirky in a sense that he can race behind the bridle, race lazily and the suddenly pick it up again, you just have to keep encouraging him forward.

“I think he’s best of the British. I’m looking forward to seeing what L’Homme Presse does at Ascot, but Galopin Des Champs definitely sets the standard, I’d like to think we’d definitely serve it up to him.”

National Hunt superstar Constitution Hill heads 22 entries for the Unibet Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten charge was a nine-length winner of the hurdles highlight at Prestbury Park last year, one of his eight victories under rules to date.

Constitution Hill is already long odds-on for a repeat on March 12, having made a faultless return in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day.

The Willie Mullins-trained State Man chased him home last year and he is among seven contenders for the trainer this time around.

Lossiemouth, winner of the Triumph Hurdle last term, features in the Closutton squad along with 2023 Champion Hurdle fourth Vauban, Echoes In Rain, Gala Marceau, Impaire Et Passe and Zarak The Brave.

Zanahiyr was third behind Constitution Hill 12 months ago and he has been entered by Gordon Elliott, with stablemates Irish Point and Pied Piper also on the list.

Henderson has alternates in First Street, Under Control and Luccia, while four-year-old Burdett Road is an intriguing entry for James Owen.

Harry Fry’s Love Envoi, the Henry de Bromhead-trained Bob Olinger and popular veteran Not So Sleepy are others of note.

The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle takes place on the same day as the Champion Hurdle and Lossiemouth, Echoes In Rain, Gala Marceau, Love Envoi and Luccia are all entered for that Grade One.

Ashroe Diamond, Magical Zoe and Jetara are others towards the head of the betting, with Jamie Snowden’s You Wear It Well looking for a second Festival win after taking the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle last term.

A total of 25 have been entered for that race – a number which is surpassed by the 36 initial contenders for the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle.

Run on March 14, the three-mile contest has a clutch of previous winners in the potential line-up, with Elliott’s 2023 hero Sire Du Berlais, Gavin Cromwell’s dual victor Flooring Porter and 2019 winner Paisley Park all potentially coming back for more.

Teahupoo and Irish Point are other key contenders for Elliott, with potential French raider Theleme prominent in the betting having won an Auteuil Grade One in November.

Crambo and Sir Gerhard are in the mix, with the Lucinda Russell-trained Ahoy Senor an interesting possible after a couple of disappointing chase starts this term.