Dublin Racing Festival 2026: Irish Champion Hurdle race analysis and preview 

The 2026 Dublin Racing Festival gets underway in just under three weeks, with Leopardstown racecourse set to stage two days of elite racing action 

Fifteen races are due to run across the two-day event, which is headlined by the running of eight Grade One contests, one of which is the Paddy Power Irish Champion Hurdle. 

Due off at 3:20pm, on Sunday, February 1, the race is one of four Grade One contests to take place on the second and final day of the meeting. 

It will see horses aged four or older go head-to-head over a two miles of Irish countryside, during which they will jump eight scheduled hurdles. 

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State Man not in the running

The last three renewals of the race have been won by State Man, who would have been on for a four-timer had it not been for a season-ending injury suffered back in November. 

This year, owners Joe and Marie Donnelly will look to Anzadam to carry their colours to victory for the fourth consecutive year. 

Like State Man, this six-year-old is trained by last year’s Champion Trainer Willie Mullins and he is one of five horses that hold an entry into the race for the trainer. 

Following two wins from two runs in France, the then three-year-old made the switch to Willie Mullins’ stable, where he boasted the same record, until his second-placed effort in the Fighting Fifth – at Newcastle – on his seasonal debut. 

Costly falls

That run came after 10 months off the track and whilst he finished second, both his main market rivals Constitution Hill and The New Lion fell. 

He has since been beaten into fourth at this course in the December Hurdle, won by his stablemate Lossiemouth – who is the ante-post favourite to win this race. 

Mullins’ fan-favourite mare is still yet to finish outside the first two in any of the 15 races that she has competed. 

The seven-year-old has won 13 times in her career, with her only blips coming against Constitution Hill in the 2024 Christmas Hurdle and a second-placed effort in a Grade One race on just her fourth start. 

Grade One winner

She is a nine-time Grade One winner and is looking to make it five consecutive victories in this company, since falling when narrowly ahead of State Man in this race last season. 

Lossiemouth trades as high as 5/4 in some places, following a perfect start to this season in which she has already beaten her main market rivals. 

Trainer Gordon Elliott’s mare Brighterdaysahead was at one point fancied to win last season’s Champion Hurdle, at the Cheltenham Festival, though she ran no race at all. 

Dramatic race

She was beaten almost 20 lengths into fourth by subsequent Fighting Fifth champion Golden Ace, following a dramatic race that saw both Constitution Hill and State Man fall. 

That defeat was the first time in her 11-race career that she finished outside the top-two, though she had only placed second once. 

Her only run this season was in the race won by Lossiemouth two weeks ago, which came after a seven month break following a third-placed finish in the Irish Mares Champion Hurdle. 

The Gigginstown-owned seven-year-old is priced as high as 6/4 to win this race, with both her and Lossiemouth clear of El Fabiolo – who (alongside Anzadam at 8/1) heads the others in the market. 

Once renowned for his ability of fences, his only run so far this season saw El Fabiolo revert to hurdles for the first time since winning a Punchestown Novice contest in April 2022. 

At the time it was the latest of only three starts for Mullins, whom he had joined 13 months after two defeats in France. 

The other two birthed a Maiden win and a second-placed effort behind Jonbon, in a Novice Grade One contest. 

His last victory came in the 2024 Dublin Chase, the latest of his four Grade One wins, following a run of seven consecutive victories – six of which were over fences.  

Between that win and this season’s hurdle victory, he had started five races and failed to win any of them. 

A second-placed effort in Sandown’s Celebration Chase was as good as it got for El Fabiolo, as he failed to finish in three of those five runs. 

Return to hurdles

He now returns to hurdles following a resounding win back in this sphere on New Year’s Eve. 

Ballyburn had been tipped to push Teahupoo all the way in the Stayers’ at Cheltenham, though he has finished behind that rival on both his outings this season. 

A run in this race would see him drop back to two miles for the first time since finishing second to Sir Gino, in December 2024. 

Both he and last year’s shock Triumph Hurdle winner Poniros strengthen Mullins’ hand in this race, as he looks to win it for the 10th time. 

The latter overcame 100/1 odds to defeat current Arkle ante-post favourite Lulamba and East India Dock to win the Triumph Hurdle at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. 

He finished second to the first of those two rivals when the pair met at Punchestown in May, which was his last run over obstacles. 

His only run since came at Royal Ascot, where he was beaten 45 lengths into 17th, in the (Class Two) Ascot Stakes. 

Ballyburn is priced as high as 16/1 to win this race, whilst both Poniros and Casheldale Lad are out at 20/1. 

READ MORE: Dublin Racing Festival 2026: Dates, how to watch on TV, trainers and jockeys to watch