Punchestown Racecourse was a beehive of activity when The Irish Field visited on Wednesday morning. The site was swarming with workmen assembling facilities and preparing the enclosures for next week’s five-day National Hunt Festival.

Indoors, the racecourse office team were busy too but all smiles, secure in the knowledge that the bulk of the hard work has been done, ticket sales were ahead of schedule, and the weather forecast was favourable.