“Thank you for your email. I am working remotely all next week and may be unreachable from 2pm each day due to... meetings.”

BEFORE we get into the big races, let’s just acknowledge that next week’s Punchestown Festival is much more than a racemeeting. It’s a huge social occasion, both for racing professionals and fans.

It attracts between 20,000 and 30,000 people each day and there is tons to keep you occupied before, during and after racing. There is plenty of top-class racing but, following the seriousness of Cheltenham and the drama of Aintree, there is very much an end-of-term giddiness about Punchestown.

You go along, you see some great horses win easily and some others run inexplicably badly. But the main thing is you’ve had a great day out, meeting familiar faces everywhere and catching up on all the gossip.

At €35 a ticket (buy before Sunday night!), it’s a good value proposition for five or six hours of entertainment. I’d love to say that this is where I chip in with a few winners to make it a free day out. I’ll do my best, but let’s just say friends and family no longer text me for tips, and with good reason.

As always, the best tip is to check the weather forecast on Sunday evening and decide then which day you’re phoning in sick from work.

Tuesday

Race of the day: The William Hill Champion Chase will see a clash between last year’s winner Marine Nationale and the horse who has taken his Cheltenham crown, Il Etait Temps. And then there’s the mercurial Majborough, who has all the talent if only you could trust him to focus on his jumping. For me, it has to be Marine Nationale, unbeaten in three starts at this track.

Supporting card: Willie Mullins had 15 winners across the week here last year and is the man to follow in both the PRL Champion Novice Hurdle (Sober or King Rasko Grey) and the three-mile Dooley Insurance Champion Novice Chase with Kitzbuhel.

Wednesday

Race of the day: Gather around for the rematch between Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Gaelic Warrior and his old rival Fact To File in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup. The pair had a brilliant duel here in November over two and a half miles. Gaelic Warrior won that battle narrowly and arguably the longer trip will suit him even better. In Fact To File’s favour is that he missed Cheltenham due to unsuitable ground conditions and he did beat Gaelic Warrior convincingly in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown. Cheltenham winners have a mixed record here, so we’ll side with Fact To File. Let’s hope they jump the last together and serve up another epic finish.

Supporting card: The Race & Stay at Punchestown Champion Bumper is likely to see Noel Meade’s Cheltenham winner The Mourne Rambler follow up.

Thursday

Race of the day: The Cheltenham-Aintree winner Home By The Lee is set to skip Punchestown in favour of a French race next month. This opens the door to Teahupoo, winner of the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers Hurdle for the past two seasons. He struggled with the quick ground when only sixth at Cheltenham last month, but can be relied on to run to his best here, even if it doesn’t rain.

Supporting card: We’re in for a mouth-watering rematch in the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase between stable companions Kargese and Kopek De Bordes, first and second respectively at Cheltenham. The bookies say Kopek Des Bordes will reverse the form, but you underestimate the mare Kargese at your peril. She’s a great jumper and hard to pass.

Friday

Race of the day: The Boodles Champion Hurdle is likely to be a virtual walkover for Lossiemouth. The form of her Cheltenham win has worked out well and none of her main rivals from that race are likely to turn up here.

Supporting card: Lossiemouth’s trainer Willie Mullins will surely win the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle with either He’s Our Fire or King Rasko Grey.

Saturday

Race of the day: The final day feature race at Punchestown is the SBK Champion Mares’ Hurdle. This is likely to be fought out by ‘B team’ players Wodhooh (Gordon Elliott) and Jade De Grugy (Willie Mullins). Wodhooh deserves it, but Jade De Grugy will push her close and represents a better value bet.

Supporting card: How many will Willie Mullins run in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle? He ran nine in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham, won by unknown quantity Apolon De Charnie. It’s worth chancing an outsider here, and if Henry de Bromhead runs French import Matin Midi Et Soir then take the hint.

ACT now to secure general admission tickets for any day at just €35 each. If buying 10 or more, the price drops to €31.50 each. This offer ends at midnight on Sunday, when the price rises to €40. Discounted tickets for seniors, students, families and teenagers can be bought on the day only. Gates open from noon each day and the venue closes at 9pm (10pm on Friday).

HOSPITALITY is fully booked out for the week, with the exception of Saturday. The best tip you’ll get all week is to snap up the Champion Lounge Package at €115 per person for the Saturday. A fraction of the midweek price, this ticket includes the Festival wrap party.

Another great value deal is the €50 family ticket for Saturday. The final afternoon will have a huge family element including a pony club race on the track, and a jockey ‘meet and greet’ in the Britvic family zone.

SATURDAY at Punchestown also features the Your Friend, My Friend singles event in the new Horsewalk Pavillion, just past the winning post. A total of 500 unattached men and women are expected to attend. The female tickets are all gone.

THE Bollinger Best Dressed competition takes place across the first four days of the Festival, culminating in Friday’s final. Each day, judges will scout the crowds and enclosures seeking out candidates from 1.30pm. Finalists will be asked to gather in the Bollinger Garden in the South Enclosure from 3.30pm. A winner will be selected from the daily finalists by 4.30pm each day. The overall winner and guest win a trip of a lifetime to the home of Bollinger in Reims, outside Paris.

On Friday, sharply-dressed gents will enjoy the opportunity to win a case of Bollinger, along with a Louis Copeland prize.

PUNCHESTOWN asks racegoers to support those who support racing, such as The Stables restaurant in Naas, who have just signed a three-year race sponsorship deal and are racehorse owners themselves. The Festival’s 66 event sponsors include 25 from Kildare and also new to the party this year are PRL Group and Kildare Village, who host a ‘Grand Pavilion’ just inside the main entrance.