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The Punchestown Festival |
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As the National Hunt season winds down, the Irish give it one last hurrah with the valuable and prestigious Punchestown Festival. Our Irish racing experts at Timeform have pondered what lies ahead later this month:
Punchestown has been the home of National Hunt racing in Ireland for over 150 years and the Irish National Hunt Festival that will take place there later this month is the most valuable and indeed, competitive National Hunt Festival in the Irish racing calendar.
With Punchestown beginning six weeks after the commencement of the Cheltenham Festival, it comes at an ideal time for horses that have run at Prestbury Park and for whom the Aintree and Fairyhouse Festivals may come too soon. Last season's Festival was a prime example of this with Newmill, War Of Attrition and Nicanor all supplementing their Cheltenham wins by following up at Punchestown.
The week also provides an excellent opportunity for Irish horses that have suffered slight training setbacks in the build-up to Cheltenham to try and gain compensation at the highest level. This year there are a number of high profile horses in this situation with the likes of Macs Joy and In Compliance looking to get back on the winning trail at Punchestown.
The highlight of the opening day of the Festival will undoubtedly be the Kerrygold Champion Chase and it promises to showcase some of the best two-mile chasers in training. The likes of Skymas, Viking Flagship, Klairon Davis, Flagship Uberalles and the incomparable Moscow Flyer have all won the race in the past and this year's renewal promises to produce another worthy winner. Newmill is likely to bid to retain his grip on the race having impressively won last years renewal, but he will face stiff opposition from Justified, Accordion Etoile, as well as a raiding English party that is sure to be strong in number.
Wednesday's fare will be headlined by the Guinness Gold Cup which has seen some virtuoso performances in the last number of years from reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup Champions such as Imperial Call, Kicking King and most recently, War Of Attrition. However, the race has historically provided a platform for the numerous high-class chasers that are not suited by the unique demands of the Cheltenham Gold Cup to shine. Examples of such horses that have won the race in recent years include Florida Pearl, First Gold and Beef Or Salmon. Indeed, this year's race is likely to feature a clash between the aforementioned ten-time Grade 1 winner, Beef Or Salmon, and the fast rising star of the Irish chasing ranks, In Compliance. The former will be bidding to gain his second win in the race while the latter will be bidding to make a winning return from a forced absence of over four months. Added into the mix is the Henrietta Knight-trained Racing Demon who is also being targeted at the race.
The third day of the Festival will see no less than three Grade 1 contests take place and it promises to be a memorable occasion. The Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa Stayers Hurdle could well be one of the races of the week if Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace take their place in the line-up as has been mooted by their connections in recent weeks, but even in the absence of those two, it is shaping up to be a fantastic race. The hugely talented veteran, Adamant Approach, has well and truly captured the public's imagination over the last year and at the ripe old age of 13, he looks to be better than ever. There is little doubt that the Punchestown stand will be shaken to its foundations if Willie Mullins' charge can defy his advancing years and prevail. Another very interesting contender is the seemingly revitalised Essex. Out of form since disappointing in the 2005 Champion Hurdle, Michael O'Brien's charge made an impressive winning return from an absence of just under a year at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival and he has plenty of scope to improve over staying trips.
When the first race meeting was held at Punchestown in 1824, the runners raced exclusively over the natural banks and stone walls, and Punchestown is one of the few tracks that maintain the cross country racing tradition in the modern era. The La Touche Cup over 4m 2f is always one of the most anticipated contests of the third day of the Festival and it is undoubtedly the most famous of the three banks races that are run during the Festival.
Remarkably, the banks race specialist Enda Bolger has saddled the winner of the last nine renewals of the race and he is sure to hold another strong hand this year having saddled Heads Onthe Ground to win the Sporting Index Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Undoubtedly the highlight of the fourth and final day of the Punchestown Festival will be the ACC Bank Champion Hurdle. Much of the focus will be on last month's Champion Hurdle winner, Sublimity, who will be bidding to cement his position as one of the best hurdlers in training. Macs Joy should provide stiff opposition to John Carr's stable star as he will be a fresh horse having missed Cheltenham due to a slight setback. Harchibald is likely to be another interesting contender having also missed the Cheltenham Festival and further interest is likely to be added by the presence of the Supreme Novice Hurdle winner, Ebaziyan, in the field.
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