Willie Mullins could be excused his mixed feelings. It had been an afternoon of thrills but then came a spill and summersault that left the Champion Trainer – like the rest of us – wondering what had gone on. After the raw emotion of Saturday, when Galopin Des Champs stole hearts and thundered into the record books, the Mullins bandwagon had been rolling on remorselessly thanks to the brilliance of Kopek Des Bordes and Ballyburn, two stars who will take some stopping at Cheltenham in five weeks.

But then came the Irish Champion Hurdle. Mullins was always going to win it. He had four of the five runners – the other, Gordon Elliott's Fils d'Oudairies, was the 80/1 outsider – and the only question was would it be Lossiemouth or State Man. It turned out to be State Man but would that have been so had Lossiemouth, the 8/11 favourite, not crashed through the third last flight? Mullins couldn't answer nor could jockey Paul Townend, who somehow avoided being tripped up as the mare and her rider Danny Mullins turned upside down.

'It was a strange race to watch,' said Mullins. 'I didn't give either Paul or Danny any instructions. I let them go out and do whatever they wanted. It was setting up to be a hell of a race, I'd say. It's just disappointing for Rich (Ricci, Lossiemouth's owner) and disappointing for the public. 'Both horses were going well. It was very uncharacteristic for Lossiemouth to do that. It's one of those things. Paul came in and said he was very lucky not to be brought down. It was great to see State Man back to himself (after running poorly at Christmas) but we just don't know, do we?'.

State Man triumphed in the Irish Champion Hurdle in Dublin for a third year running on Sunday. The feature race had been billed as a shootout between State Man and Lossiemouth (right). Winning trainer Willie Mullins pictured (left) next to jockey Paul Townend after Sunday's race. That's not strictly true. We do know State Man has been the most admirable servant for his owners Joe and Marie Donnelly, a prolific and proficient performer who has now won the Irish Champion Hurdle three years in a row. His tally of 11 Grade One victories is exceptional.

'I've always said we don't know how good he is because he only just does enough in his races,' Mullins said of the chestnut. But we also know he has been pummelled once by Constitution Hill at Cheltenham and there is every chance that will happen again when the pair lock horns in 36 days; Nicky Henderson, the superstar's trainer, privately will be more than hopeful of reclaiming the prize he first landed in 2023.

Constitution Hill's odds for the big one contracted but how could they not? It's impossible to say how Lossiemouth's confidence will have been affected by this and there are still doubts about whether the strapping mare Brighterdaysahead, the ante-post second favourite, will take up the challenge. Soon all will become clear but one thing is for certain and that is the action at the Dublin Racing Festival has lit a spark of excitement for the Festival that is going to fizz away for the next month – how could it not after an exceptional weekend?.

There had been stars as far as the eye could see on Saturday, with Majborough and Final Demand excelling for Mullins and Hello Neighbour catching the eye for Gavin Cromwell, but the performance of Kopek Des Bordes left you breathless about what he might do in the Supreme Novices Hurdle. The gelding is no bigger than 7/4 for the Festival's opening race after zinging away from his rivals in the Tattersalls Ireland Novices Hurdle. Ballyburn, his stablemate, had been thrilling 30 minutes earlier but he didn't quicken the pulse like Kopek Des Bordes.