NEXT Saturday, April 30th the 2022 Punchestown Festival will host the 31st running of the annual charity race in aid of the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund (PKRF).

This fantastic fundraising initiative remains as popular as ever with applications oversubscribed each year. Twenty-five amateur riders will battle it out over one mile and seven furlongs. Each rider must raise €1,500 for the PKRF and pass an assessment in order to participate.

In 2022, the PKRF is looking forward to partnering with the Irish Kidney Association to set up a Pilot Peer Support Programme to help kidney patients and their families reach out and connect with a trained volunteer to discuss their concerns about dialysis and transplantation.

Kilcullen master butcher James Nolan initiated both the charity and the race having received the gift of life when his sister Catherine Doyle donated one of her kidneys to him in 1987.

He has ridden in the race 13 times and won it on 50 /1 shot Nero’s Dancer in 2002, an experience he describes as one of the highlights of his life.

Punchestown team

Home favourite will be Leona Hughes who comes from the Curragh and works as part of the fantastic team at Punchestown Racecourse. Jessica Harrington will continue her long running support of the charity race by providing the horse for Leona.

Jessie has had a horse in every Punchestown charity race since the inaugural running back in 1990 when she rode Bankers Benefit.

Boxer

Former professional boxer Michael Harty from Galway is certainly fit and ready as well as Cora Doyle from Tipperary who ran the half marathon in Berlin last year.

Kilcullen’s Paul Bell, won a Kildare County Football Championship earlier this year with ‘The Rags’ and he will enjoy local support from all the Kildare GAA supporters.

Camilla Sharples, Barry Nolan and Kay Bowe will represent the Elliott, Nolan and Bowe stables respectively. Chloe Page and Patrick Chesters are coming over from England to enjoy the peerless Punchestown experience.

Sarah Connell, Ava Banahan and Neil Durkan will represent some well know racing families and Cliona Costelloe has a special reason for taking part in this race as her father, John Costelloe, from the famous racing family in Clare, received a kidney transplant in a paired exchange in Belfast.

Gift of life

Cliona would like to encourage people to think about carrying an organ donor card and you can give the gift of life.

For more information contact James Nolan at 086/2349919.