THE 2016 Punchestown Festival set an all-time attendance record despite very mixed weather and some high-profile equine defections.

A total of 114,438 racegoers were recorded during the five-day meeting, an increase of almost 15,000 on the previous year. The jump in numbers is almost totally due to a bumper crowd on the final day of 30,035 compared to 16,802 last year.

Dick O’Sullivan, general manager at Punchestown, said: “I have a tremendous, enthusiastic team here that are so motivated. They did an amazing job despite difficult weather conditions and at no stage were spirits dampened. They deserve this record-breaker.”

Richie Galway, the track’s racing manager, agreed that the weather was the main challenge of the week. “Bad weather tends to place any site and facilities under increased pressure and - with a mixture, of sun, wind, rain, hail and snow - we got it all! The site coped remarkably well throughout the week and racegoers seemed to make the best of the conditions.”

Galway’s personal highlight was the fact that there were no serious injuries to horse or rider throughout the week.

“Five days and over 500 runners, with championship racing throughout, makes injuries to horses and riders difficult to avoid but our team on track, headed by Sean Ryan, deserve great credit for the way they prepared the track and presented both fences and hurdles. We had very few fallers.”

Married to Jessica Harrington’s daughter Emma, Galway said that Woodland Opera’s win was a personal highlight for him and the Cooper family, but another winner deserved special mention. “On The Fringe received the best reception I have ever heard at Punchestown and for Enda Bolger to do the ‘double treble’ was incredible.”

Catering for racegoers, particularly those in private boxes, stretched resources at times. Galway said: “From a catering point of view, the festival has grown quite dramatically with over 16,000 corporate guests through the week. There were issues that arose through the week but we will put measures in place over the summer to ensure a more streamlined operation next year.”

Looking ahead Punchestown plan to complete the first phase of their development programme before next year’s festival. This includes kitchen upgrades, additional toilets and refurbishments to existing bars.

“Phase 1 has gone to tender and work will commence in July,” Galway said. “We are very excited to get started and we are certain that the improvements will improve the racegoers’ experience.”