This is a subscriber-only article
It looks like you're browsing in private mode
Gaelic Warrior, Lossiemouth and Il Etait Temps are among a mouth-watering cast of horses bidding to put a glorious full stop on another epic jumps season at the Punchestown Festival.
Tomorrow marks the two-week warning for the commencement of the festival, as the cream of the crop in Ireland and Britain, with a sprinkling of French involvement too, vie for a share of the record-breaking total prize fund of €3,600,000 on offer from Tuesday April 28th to Saturday May 2nd.
Willie Mullins remains hot favourite to secure his 20th Champion Trainer crown in total, to go with his pair of British championships, with the aforementioned Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase heroes in the mix to go to war on his behalf.
Gaelic Warrior is among 14 entries in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup, where two horses that have already beaten him this year, stablemate and Irish Gold Cup conqueror Fact To File, and Ladbrokes King George VI Chase winner The Jukebox Man could oppose.
Lossiemouth is one of a dozen considering participation in the Boodles Champion Hurdle, with old rival and Thursday’s Aintree Hurdle victress Brighterdaysahead in their midst, while Il Etait Temps has a select group of seven high-class opponents potentially looking to take his scalp in the William Hill Champion Chase, which is shaping up to get the festival off to an explosive start as Marine Nationale and Majborough will be expected to line up along with Energumene and Captain Guinness.
Long-time sparring partners, Robcour duo, Bob Olinger and Teahupoo, are in the mix along with 16 other horses for the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers' Hurdle. Cheltenham/Aintree hero Home By The Lee has been given the option of attempting a unique treble but trainer Joseph O’Brien reports the bid to be unlikely.
There is the prospect of a vibrant British representation too, buoyed by last year’s successes at the Punchestown Festival and their improved results on home territory also. Dan Skelton, Ben Pauling, Nicky Henderson, Harry Derham, Paul Nicholls, Olly Murphy and Jeremy Scott are just some of the cross-channel crew eyeing a journey across the Irish Sea.
Meanwhile, Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm have made a couple of entries from their French base.
But as befitting a year when more trainers have elbowed their way into the big time, such as Andy Slattery, Colm Murphy, Emmet Mullins and Noel Meade, the fare is open and there are countless operations dreaming of glory.
Patrick Harty’s earlier memories of racing revolve around the Punchestown Festival. Now that he is joint trainer on the Curragh-based yard with his father Eddie, he is relishing the prospect of being a protagonist on the big stage.
“We are delighted to have a couple of entries in the Grade 1s at Punchestown,” Harty Jnr says.
“The week at Punchestown is a brilliant race week and we’re really excited. As a Kildare man, I have been going for years and taking days off from school. It was always a great meeting and to have horses running in some of the top races and the best races is extremely exciting.
“I would absolutely love to win one of the races I was chasing as a kid, along with the stars of the time, and it would be very cool to train a star of this time.”
Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup
(Wednesday, April 29th - 14 entries)
Gaelic Warrior (Willie Mullins) is the marquee name among the 14 entries, following his effortless triumph at Prestbury Park but he won’t have it all his own way and indeed, we could have another pulsating renewal to live up to recent offerings. Gaelic Warrior’s Cheltenham predecessor, Inothewayurthinkin (Gavin Cromwell) could line up after posting his best performance of the current campaign to date when staying on to be third last month, while another J.P. McManus-owned gelding, Fact To File was a wide-margin winner over his stablemate in the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival in February.
The Jukebox Man also finished in front of Gaelic Warrior this year, by the tiny margin of two noses, but that earned Ben Pauling’s stable star the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase on St Stephen’s Day.
While not involved at the business end in Cheltenham, a reason has been unearthed and Pauling is leaning towards making to trip to Ireland if his charge shows the right signs after a minor wind procedure.
“He was a bit stiff and sore after the Gold Cup and there was a lot didn’t go our way in the race so we’ve a lot to find. But he’s been at that level before and hopefully he can find that again,” Pauling reports.
“He’s had a little tinkle on his wind – he had a little soft palate issue we had to sort out. But if he shows the form I want him to show leading up to the race, we’ll go over and give it another crack. He’s a horse that I know has got the ability to be in these races. He’s proven it already and there’s no taking away from how impressive Gaelic Warrior was but we’ve got to try serve it up to him.
“He didn’t have an overly hard race at Cheltenham because he probably wasn’t able to put it in. We all know the Gold Cup can leave a dent in horses and he probably hasn’t had that dent put in him. And after running in a Gold Cup, we don’t need to worry about fitness. So long as he’s sound and well and 100%, we’ll be there.”
William Hill Champion Chase
(Tuesday, April 28th – 8 entries)
With winners of the three of the last five renewals and the last five Queen Mothers at Cheltenham, it has the potential to be one of the greatest renewals in recent memory and certainly will get the Punchestown Festival started with a bang.
Energumene (Willie Mullins) and Captain Guinness (Henry de Bromhead) have moved into veteran status now but remain enthusiastic about their jobs, as the former proved most recently at Fairyhouse.
Marine Nationale thrilled a huge crowd when bolting up in the race 12 months ago, following up from a rousing victory at Cheltenham and replicating Energumene’s double feats of 2022-23.
Barry Connell’s chaser missed Prestbury Park in March due to a slight knock but is on course to defend his domestic crown with Il Etait Temps, who benefited from a consummately patient ride by Paul Townend to score at Cheltenham, the chief rival and thus in with a chance of joining the recent double winners.
Another Mullins trainee, four-time Grade 1 winner Majborough, would be a very interesting participant given his tendency to mix the sublime with the ridiculous, while Solness (Joseph O’Brien), himself a triple top-flight victor over two miles, would ensure a true-run affair coming back from losing by just a neck to Grey Dawning over 2m5f in the Melling Chase at Aintree.
“Of the horses that ran at Aintree, Solness is the only one that could continue to Punchestown,” O’Brien comments.
“He ran a great race at Aintree and has had another great season. He would be going back down to two miles but it will all depend on how we feel he recovers from Saturday and we will make a call on that next week.”
Boodles Champion Hurdle
(Friday, May 1st – 12 entries)
There will be a new name on the roll of honour this year with the winner of the last three renewals, State Man, sidelined with the season still in its infancy.
It was State Man’s primacy that restricted Lossiemouth (Willie Mullins) to mares company but she flourished at Cheltenham, turning the tables on Brighterdaysahead, who had held the upper hand in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown in February.
Gordon Elliott’s mare has since won the Aintree Hurdle back over two and a half miles with a game performance, while Lossiemouth has enjoyed some easy time since Cheltenham.
Another horse of the fair sex, Golden Ace is on the list too, having been State Man’s nearest challenger 12 months ago. It was Jeremy Scott’s admirable charge that picked up the pieces when State Man came a cropper at the last in the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle prior to that.
Jonjo and AJ O’Neill enjoyed success at the Punchestown Festival last year with Petit Tonnerre but are aiming higher with Wilful, who was runner-up in the Killashee Hotel Handicap Hurdle 12 months ago but has improved in leaps and bounds since, most recently running out a three-length winner of the William Hill County Hurdle at Cheltenham.
“Wilful is our only Grade 1 entry at Punchestown,” says AJ. “ It was a cracking performance from him at Cheltenham in the County. We were absolutely delighted with him. He’s a horse that has really progressed through the season and kept improving and he has come out of Cheltenham well.
“He’s put in really strong performances in handicaps at Cheltenham and Ascot, when winning, and also at Windsor during their winter festival, so he’s had a really good season and it would be great to see him step up in grade so we will keep an eye on it and make a bit of a plan from there.”
Ladbrokes Champion Stayers' Hurdle
(Thursday, April 30th – 18 entries)
Although Home By The Lee is reported by trainer Joseph O’Brien to be slated for a trip to Auteuil after carrying out the Cheltenham/Aintree double on Saturday, he has been given the option of bidding for the major festival treble that another 11-year-old, Sire Du Berlais, only failed to record by three-quarters of a length in 2023. The troupe of potentials remains of the highest calibre, with a plethora of Grade 1 winners eyeing up an opportunity to add to their tallies.
Bob Olinger and Teahupoo were Stayers’ Hurdle victors at Cheltenham in 2025 and 2024 respectively for Robcour and while the former ran another cracker last March in third, the latter was unusuallyuncompetitive.
As well as entering Bob Olinger, Henry de Bromhead has also included two other Robcour representatives, Hiddenvalley Lake and Air Of Entitlement, while Teahupoo’s handler, Gordon Elliott has put Honesty Policy into the mix.
PRL Champion Novice Hurdle
(Tuesday, April 28th – 22 entries)
El Cairos was the first Irish-trained horse home in fifth in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and could well be a different proposition back at Punchestown with more improvement in the tank and a runner-up finish in the JP & M Doyle INH Flat Race last year in the memory bank.
The winner of that contest, Baron Noir, also finished just ahead of El Cairos at Cheltenham and it is no surprise that Alan King has a return to the Punchestown Festival in the diary for the Noel Fehily Racing Syndicate-owned son of Vadamos.
Gordon Elliott, who trains El Cairos, also has an interesting contenders in Skylight Hustle, who fell in the Turners at Cheltenham after racing keenly going up in trip from her Grade 1 mares’ triumph at Leopardstown, and Koktail Brut, who bounced back from being down the field at Prestbury Park to win at Grade 2 level by almost 10 lengths at Fairyhouse.
The runner-up on that occasion was Ebony King, and Andy Slattery – who is red hot at present – provides his charge with an opportunity to reoppose.
Le Labo has a number of entries and would be included in any calculations were he to turn up here. After unseating John Gleeson on debut over hurdles at Thurles, the Mount Nelson bay fell when clear at the last in a competitive maiden at Cork subsequently. He put it all together last time when rewarding Joseph O’Brien for his ambition to battle to a neck victory in a Naas Grade 3 level early last month.
“Le Labo will definitely go in one of the Grade 1 novice hurdles,” O’Brien confirms. “He was gutsy when winning at Naas, so the next logical step is to go up to the next level with him.”
Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase
(Tuesday, April 28th – 19 entries)
This has attracted a lip-smacking crop of staying novice chasers with Willie Mullins including the 1-2 from Cheltenham, Kitzbuhel and Final Demand, as well as Kappa Jy Pyke, a winner of the Grade 3 Sky Bet Super Sub Novice Chase at Punchestown in January, who finished second in the Grade 1 WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse.
Fleur In The Park provided in-form trainer, Any Slattery and jockey Cian Quirke with a first Grade 1 by scoring in that Fairyhouse feature and could well have a tilt at securing a lucrative and notable double.
Emmet Mullins has given Irish Grand National hero, Soldier In Milan the option, while Henry de Bromhead includes his brilliant mare The Big Westerner, who has not been seen since winning a Grade 2 mares’ chase at Limerick over Christmas and missed an intended Cheltenham engagement due to her preference for soft ground.
Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle
(Wednesday, April 29th – 32 entries)
The spread of Grade 1-winning trainers has been a notable aspect of the Irish jumps season and Zanoosh is another heartwarming story, having provided Colm Murphy with his first elite success since returning to the training ranks in the Honeysuckle Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Fairyhouse. In the process, the Winning Ways Reunion Syndicate’s daughter of Harzand was also providing jockey, Brian Hayes with his maiden Grade 1 triumph.
It was a fifth straight victory for this clearly progressive mare and it is likely that ground conditions will dictate whether she takes in this three-mile examination or the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle on Friday.
Willie Mullins is mob-handed, with 11 of the 32 entrants, and dual Grade 1 winner Doctor Steinberg would be on a retrieval mission, having faded when travelling very keenly in the Albert Bartlett Hurdle.
There are five cross-channel entrants, including Johnny’s Jury, who won at Cheltenham for Jamie Snowden, and No Drama This End, from the Paul Nicholls yard.
Harry Derham experienced Punchestown Festival success in 2025 when Ascending Lark galloped to victory in the Killashee Hotel Handicap Hurdle and the talented young conditioner will be back with the Isaac Souede/Simon Munir-owned Le Frimeur, who like Zanoosh, has the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle as a potential alternative.
“Le Frimeur had a setback after he won in the autumn and was good at Newbury. He has been put in the two races. That obviously won’t be a decision just for me. There are some very experienced people in the Double Green team so I would imagine there will be conversations closer to the time.
“He’ll be kept in both and I will just try to prepare the horse in the best possible condition for Punchestown week. I’ll obviously give my view but you have to respect there’s an enormous amount of experience in the team and we’ll make the decision closer to the time.”
Race & Stay At Punchestown Champion INH Flat Race
(Wednesday, April 29th – 19 entries)
Bambino Fever (2025), A Dream To Share (2023), Facile Vega (2022), Fayonagh (2017), Champagne Fever (2012) and Cousin Vinny (2008) completed the Cheltenham/Punchestown double in the past and that is the territory The Mourne Rambler will enter if prevailing for Noel Meade, although flat champion jockey, Colin Keane will not be eligible to do the steering.
The Mourne Rambler was a convincing winner of the Cheltenham Champion Bumper when Love Sign D’aunou was favourite, but the Mullins charge never got involved, having sluiced home to a 24-length triumph on debut on heavy ground in Naas in January.
Gordon Elliott has enjoyed plenty of bumper success during the current campaign and Charismatic Kid, bought for Gigginstown House Stud after winning for trainer Colm Ryan at Navan in December, could be on the upgrade after following up a close third at Dublin Racing Festival with an 11-length victory at Fairyhouse
Barberstown Castle Novice Chase
(Thursday, April 30th – 13 entries)
Willie Mullins trainees, Kargese and Kopek Des Bordes, could battle once more after a thrilling contest in the Arkle in which the jumping accuracy of Kenny Alexander’s mare under Danny Mullins down the stretch moved the dial in her favour.
Kargese was a high-class hurdler too, and finished third in last year’s Boodles Champion Hurdle, just six lengths behind the dominant State Man, but has improved over fences.
Kopek Des Bordes was victorious in last year’s Supreme at Cheltenham and his endeavours in defeat last month were notable given that he had raced only once over fences prior to that, due to an injury setback.
It is reasonable to expect the McCarthy family's pride and joy to improve for his first run in almost four months though in truth, he did very little wrong in the jumping department before making a significant error at the last when still travelling strongly.
Stencil would be a fascinating contestant for the French-based training duo, Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm but the J.P. McManus-owned five-year-old has disappointed since winning at Chepstow in January, racing very keenly in the Jack Richards at Cheltenham and then being pulled up when near the top of the market in the Red Rum at Aintree.
Eddie and Patrick Harty rolled the dice with Irish Panther in the Champion Chase at Cheltenham, and the nine-year-old justified that decision by looking sure to make the frame, only to make an uncharacteristic shuddering error at the last.
A product of the late Edward O’Grady, Irish Panther did connections proud and will now revert to novice company in pursuit of a coveted Grade 1, having been just denied by Romeo Coolio over two miles, one furlong at Leopardstown on St Stephen’s Day.
“Irish Panther has come out of Cheltenham very well,” reports Patrick Harty. “We were delighted with his run for the most part in the Champion Chase, bar that bad mistake at the last, where he just walked through it and did well to stand up. He would have been in the first four – possibly second – but almost definitely third or firth. So we’re delighted with that. It gives us plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
“We are stepping back now into novice company at Punchestown, which is a very fair track at which the best horse usually wins. He has to take on the first two from the Arkle in all likelihood, but we have a lot of belief in our horse. He’s very fast, he’s very talented and he jumps great and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle
(Friday, May 1st – 31 entries)
King Rasko Grey is the one to beat among this lengthy catalogue of talented operators at the intermediate trip, the gelding owned by Audrey Turley and trained by Willie Mullins building on the promise he had shown when third at the Dublin Racing Festival over two miles, by prevailing in the Turners at Cheltenham.
Stablemate He’s On Fire would be one to note if lining up, as a late starter this term that has created a major impression by backing up a 20-length maiden hurdle victory at Carlisle in February with a Grade 2 success by a dozen lengths at Fairyhouse.
Mullins might stew over the participation of Doctor Steinberg also, given how hard he pulled in the Albert Bartlett on his first attempt at 3m. He was a Grade 1 winner by eight lengths over two miles, five furlongs at the DRF despite that over-exuberance.
As mentioned already, this would be an option for Zanoosh also, with two and a half miles on soft ground right up her ally as evidenced when winning the Grade 1 Honeysuckle at Fairyhouse, but also proving her stamina over three miles, which is why the Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle is being considered by trainer, Colm Murphy.
After some good runs in defeat, Barley Lane got off the mark over hurdles at Down Royal last month and Eddie and Patrick Harty believe the time is right to try find out what the five-year-old’s level might be.
“We were very happy with how he won at Down Royal on St Patrick’s Day,” says Patrick Harty. “It was a big step forward on his two previous efforts. He’s a horse with a lot of promise, a lot of potential and we’re quite interested to run him in a Grade 1, to see how he copes with the higher tempo against better horses than he has previously encountered and it will help us decide what we do going forward.”
This is among the options for Le Frimeur (Harry Derham) and Le Labo (Joseph O’Brien), as mentioned by both trainers above.
SBK Irish EBF Mares’ Champion Hurdle
(Saturday, May 2nd – 10 entries)
Lossiemouth (Willie Mullins) heads the entries here along with old rival Brighterdaysahead (Gordon Elliott) but they would be expected to participate in the Boodles Champion Hurdle if drawing the curtain down on their campaigns at the Punchestown Festival.
Golden Ace (Jeremy Scott) could take this in, however, having run well in defeat in the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle and the Aintree Hurdle. She showed her liking for the course when the nearest challenger to State Man in the 2025 Boodles Champion Hurdle.
Wodhooh would be a tough nut to crack though, as Elliott’s saviour at the last two Cheltenham festivals, most recently in the Mares Hurdle. The Meath mancould be in need of the prize money too in his bid to secure a first championship title.
Ballymore Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle
(Saturday, May 2nd – 22 entries)
The curtain comes down on the Grade 1 fare with the juvenile hurdlers. Apolon De Charnie will attempt to confirm his dominance of the division after winning in the Triumph Hurdle in his first run since joining the Mullins brigade from France and theoretically, should improve for that experience.
Mange Tout has been held in high esteem at Cullentra House for some time and confirmed why when holding off a rallying Selma De Vary in the Grade 1 Boodles Anniversary 4YO Hurdle at Aintree on Thursday.
Bartholomew created a strong impression when scoring by 10 lengths in his maiden hurdle at Cork last week, while the George/Zetterholm tandem could ship Noire Wulf, who won at Compiegne the same day.
One Horse Town (Harry Derham) is a likely participant. He was winning for the fourth successive time in a busy campaign when delivering a Grade 2 at Prestbury Park last November. He then placed in three subsequent top-class juvenile affairs subsequently before finishing down the field in the Triumph.
“One Horse Town had a little break after Cheltenham,” Derham reveals. “He’s had a great season, wasn’t good enough at Cheltenham, but he deserves his place in the line-up.
“He’s been a really good fun horse for his owners this season and he’ll go there and take his chance. We’re not going under any illusions but he’s been a really tough, hardy juvenile and we’ll go and hope he runs a nice race.”
Grade 1 entries Tuesday, April 28th
Grade 1 entries Wednesday, April 29th
Grade 1 entries Thursday, April 30th
SHARING OPTIONS: