Grade 1 Entries announced for Punchestown Festival

Galopin Des Champs is in line to face one of the deepest fields in the history of the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup and that is just one of the reasons to get excited as entries for Punchestown Festival’s dozen Grade 1 contests are released.

The cream of the crop look to bring the curtain down on another stellar season for Irish racing, with all the Cheltenham champions targeting a coveted double and a wonderful cast of ultra talented rivals attempting to spoil the party at the Kildare venue, which opens to the masses of horse lovers and revellers from Tuesday, April 30 to Saturday, May 4.

The pulsating action that ends the jumping year represents another opportunity to marvel at the genius of the peerless Willie Mullins and his team at Closutton.

The maestro is currently leading the race to become the first Irish-based jumps trainer to be British champion since Vincent O’Brien made it two-in-a-row in 1954.

But Punchestown is his happy place and he has signalled his intent to send the usual strong team to the jamboree which will have added intrigue as Paul Townend attempts to stave off the sustained challenge of Jack Kennedy, who is bidding to become champion jockey for the first time.

Gordon Elliott’s support has been the foundation of Kennedy’s bid and he will be doing everything he can to help the Dingle pilot get over the line.

Henry de Bromhead and Gavin Cromwell are other big-time operators seeking to add to the positive memory bank of Punchestown but smaller scale firms such as those run by Martin Brassil, Jimmy Mangan and Tom Gibney have already bloodied the nose of their higher profile colleagues this year and will be looking to do just the same in Grade 1 fare to draw bring an unforgettable campaign to a memorable conclusion.

Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls are familiar cross-channel names with entries, while Anthony Honeyball is an annual visitor to Punchestown who has saddled winners in the last three years and will be going all out to make it four.

The Full Circle Series, a new initiative targeting mid-level hurdlers, has attracted significant support from British trainers, with the likes of Ben Pauling, Tom Lacey and Charlie Longsdon sending runners.

The possibility of some of Lucinda Russell’s string making the journey is a mouth-watering one, with Corach Rambler and Ahoy Senor among her potential representatives in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup.

The five day extravaganza is now only less than two weeks away and as well as the Grade 1 contests which the likes of Willie Mullins will be heavily favoured to dominate, there is also a packed undercard with 40 races on offer over the week which include the concluding the Charity Race which now in its 33rd year at Ireland’s marquee national hunt meeting.

The race programme and schedule has also changed a little with the opening two days now starting an hour earlier at 2.30pm which has been seen as a positive move from all concerned.

As well as the racing on track, the festival is also a huge social event and big crowds are expected all through the week but especially on Ladies Day (Friday) where the winner of the Bollinger Best Dressed Competition will also be announced.

Tickets are still on sale at www.Punchestown.com.