A glorious start to the Punchestown Festival!
Almost 18,000 attendees enjoyed a glorious start to the opening leg of the five-day festival at Punchestown Racecourse. The great and the good of National Hunt Racing from both sides of the Irish sea went head-to-head on the track, while social racegoers basked in the glorious sunshine and soaked up the electric atmosphere.
The feature race on the card, the William Hill Champion Steeplechase (Grade 1) worth €300,000 did not disappoint with Marine Nationale, owned and trained by Barry Connell and ridden by Sean Flanagan, following up Cheltenham success at the Kildare venue. An emotional Barry Connell commenting “This is a great success for all the team and for Kildare. This is the horse of a lifetime. I am coming to Punchestown since I was his age with my father, (grandson Jack Connell) and this is a very special day for all my family, there will be cake later Jack!”
An exciting seven race card featuring no less than 3 grade ones, the Bollinger Best Dressed Competition and a whole new festival layout, ensured the opening day gave punters a great taste of what’s in store for the rest of the week at the County Kildare Venue.
Genevieve Ryan from Roscommon enjoyed a superb first visit to the Punchestown Festival when she was chosen as the daily winner of the Bollinger Best Dressed Competition. Having really embraced the theme of the competition and shopped her own wardrobe first, Genevieve wowed the judges and attendees with her impeccable style and the story of how she curated her unique twist on the classic monochrome look.
Head judge Jess Colivet commented “Within 10 mins of arriving in the gate, she was clearly the one to beat! A perfect blend of sophistication and elegance, showcasing how a keen sense of fashion and attention to detail teamed with a sustainable ethos will always be a winner in the Bollinger style stakes at Punchestown!”
The shirt, a versatile piece purchased three years ago from MacBees in Killarney, recently underwent a facelift when Genevieve cleverly swapped the old buttons for new ones to refresh her look.
Her polka dot skirt was a recent purchase from Coosy worked so well with her Jimmy Choo shoes, a Depop bargain she nabbed online for €180. The real wow factor was her hat, a handmade with love at home piece finished with her 3 year old daughter’s favourite teddy’s bow. She accessorised perfectly with rings from Chupi, earrings from Faizie Maizie and her cloud bag by Aoife
Mullane was another Depop purchase.
The attendance was up on the opening day of the festival again this year with 17,842 in comparison to 16,361 in 2024 and 14,937 in 2023.
The first race tomorrow (Wednesday) goes to post at 2.30pm the feature being the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup at 5.30pm. For more information and updates on the Punchestown Festival visit www.punchestown.com.
ENDS.
Meet Your Bollinger Best Dressed Style Council
Lead Judge – Jess Colivet @jesscolivet
Personal stylist and content creator Jess Colivet, is based in Kildare, Ireland, and her Instagram feed is full of great fashion inspiration. After completing a postgraduate degree at Trinity and a trend forecasting course at the London College of Style, Jess started her Instagram journey in 2020 and has been charting her style ever since.
This is Jess’s 3rd year leading the Style Council at the Bollinger Best Dressed Competition at Punchestown Festival. Personal style should be an extension of your personality and the version of yourself that you want to share with the world. To me, there is nothing more stylish than someone wearing their clothes with confidence. Don’t let age define your style.
Jessica O’Mahony @jeskaomahony
Jessica is our newest addition to the Style Council for Bollinger Best Dressed 2024. As a busy mum of three, Jessica has amassed a following of over 95,000 Instagram (@jeskaomahony) followers thanks to her enviable sense of style from formal occasion wear to casual match day outfits and everything in between. Whilst more familiar pitch side than track side, as Jessica’s husband is Peter O’Mahony, captain of the victorious Six Nations Irish rugby team, the Cork woman is looking forward to embracing this new experience. Whilst I’m as comfortable in casual wear I do love an excuse to pull out all the stops and a big day out at the races with friends is just that, not to mention the amazing prize from Bollinger.”
Eve Gottesman & Michelle O’Sullivan @Champagne_Bollinger
Bollinger is a timeless classic. A world renowned brand built on heritage and craft. It is the taste and soul of Champagne. Much of Bollinger’s success today is traced back to ‘Lily’who married into the family and took over the reins in 1914. In a continuation of female influence at Bollinger, today Michelle and Eva will represent at the Punchestown Festival. They will be looking for essence of Bollinger in the winner – elegance and style.
Suzie O Neill @suzie.ayu
Kildare resident and award-winning entrepreneur Suzie O’Neill is the owner and CEO of Ayu Cosmetics and Koolfit Apparel. Suzie’s ethos has always been about engagement with the customer and using feedback to inspire and develop new products. This will be Suzie’s second year on The Style Council at Punchestown.
Suzie’s business journey started with a range of affordable, premium quality brushes back in 2015 and since then AYU has expanded to include a full suite of cosmetics with many new and innovative products in the pipeline. A champion of women in business Suzie has a team of over 35 talented women and men across her brands.
When not running her successful business this busy Mum is running marathons with Clane Athletics Club.
Roxanne Parker @roxanne_parker
Roxanne Parker began her journalism career 20 years ago and has been working as a fashion stylist for more than 20 years. Roxanne’s styling skills are highly sought after for magazine and print media editorials and designer brand look books as well as curating television broadcast wardrobes. Roxanne writes a monthly sustainability column “A Better Way” for Social & Personal magazine and has dressed celebrities in sustainable looks for the red carpet. Roxanne has launched a Sustainable Fashion Podcast My Soul Style.
Roxanne champions sustainable and slow fashion and supports designers and brands creating pieces with a planet conscious mission while encouraging people to dress as their authentic selves and not be a slave to trends. A Roxanne style top tip would be to source a great tailor and alterations service which can transform existing items or elevate great second hand finds.
Lawson Mpame @lawsofstyle
Lawson Mpame is a Creative Director and menswear stylist who has been working in the fashion industry for seven years. His passion for fashion and storytelling through visual mediums has led to collaborations and projects with some of the biggest fashion brands in the world. Styling their latest collections and creating high end content allows Lawson to showcase both his style and creativity. The three pillars of his brand are class, creativity and confidence. 2024 will be Lawson’s second year on The Style Council and his very first visit to the Punchestown Festival.
David O Connor @styledoc
Louis Copeland Group GM/Creative Director/ Made-To-Measure specialist.
Aptly named known as ‘The Style Doctor’ David has been working with the Louis Copeland group for over twenty years where he has styled some of the sharpest dressed, well known gentlemen including actors Patrick Dempsey and John C Reilly, celebrity chef Donal Skeahan, Tv Presenter and Olympian Greg O’Shea and globally renowned Mentalist Keith Barry.
This will be David’s Punchestown debut and as a passionate flag bearer of gentlemen’s style he will be looking for impeccable grooming, excellent tailoring fit and perhaps a different take on the traditional occasion suit.
Keen to champion gentlemen’s style and optimize the opportunity for the title to go the way of the men for the first time, David will be looking for perfect fit through great tailoring as well as attention to detail on presentation.
Bollinger, sponsor of the Best Dressed Competition at the Punchestown Festival in April has announced a most exciting change of format to the high-profile event for 2020. The Bollinger Best Dressed Competition will not only include the most fashionable ladies from all across the country this year but also the most stylish gents will now compete for the much-coveted title and amazing prizes too!
The Punchestown Festival, the social and sporting highlight of the Irish calendar takes place from Tuesday 28th of April until Saturday, May 2nd. The search for the best dressed ladies and gentlemen will be held over the first four days of the festival. Each day style scouts will be tasked with finding the most stylish attendees and selecting finalists, from which a daily winner will be chosen to progress to the grand final on Ladies’ Day, held on Friday, May 2nd.
The decision to widen the format of the competition to include the thousands of men in attendance at the festival was an obvious one according to organisers. Michelle O’Sullivan, Champagne Bollinger said “It’s a very exciting year, with the highly anticipated release of the new Bond movie in April, which celebrates 25 years of James Bond. Bollinger’s association with the world’s most famous spy is synonymous and we felt it was an appropriate fit to celebrate this with a new improved format at Punchestown. Champagne Bollinger, distinctive, elegant and stylish – reminiscent of the famous special agent and the qualities that our judges will be looking for in this year’s Punchestown winner.”
Shona Dreaper, Punchestown Racecourse commented “When it comes to high profile sporting events Punchestown bucks the demographic trend with the number of ladies and gents in attendance pretty much equal and so it’s time for the guys to enter the style stage! It is a festival in the truest sense and race goers really enjoy the opportunity to dress for the occasion. As you stroll through the enclosures the sharp tailoring and attention to detail by the gents certainly merits strong contention for the coveted Bollinger Best Dressed Title. Afterall, Bollinger is the champagne of choice for the ultimate male style icon James Bond. It will be interesting to see how the judges handle it as there can only be one Bollinger Best Dressed Winner! One thing’s for certain, the judges will have their work cut out for them.”
The Punchestown Festival takes place from Tuesday 28th of April to Saturday 2nd of May. The action-packed, fun-filled, style showcase attracts over 125,000 people to the Co. Kildare venue with packages ranging from high-end hospitality to great value admission only tickets available at www.punchestown.com or by calling +353 (0)45 897704. Prices start from as little as €30pp with concessions for groups, seniors and students. The famous Punchestown hospitality package range is available from just €129pp.