Red Mills Will Sponsor the Punchestown Festival Stableyard Canteen
Spin It To Win It Red Mills Activities
Tuesday 19th April 2022 – It was announced today that Connolly’s RED MILLS will generously sponsor the Stable Staff yard canteen each day of the 2022 Punchestown Festival from Tuesday 26th to Saturday 30th April.
For over 100 years the Red Mills brand has been recognised for their nutritional expertise and the brand is now available in 80 countries across the globe. Closer to home, the five day national hunt season finale at Punchestown is a demanding schedule and Connolly’s Red Mills recognise the importance of ensuring the stable staff are well catered for. Their support will ensure that the hard working yard teams will enjoy complimentary selection of hot dishes, sandwiches, snacks, pastries, tea and coffee throughout their Festival day.
Of course, the €75,000 RED MILLS Irish EBF Auction Series Final will be the second race on Punchestown Gold Cup Day, Wednesday 27th April. Now in its fourth year this series was designed to create opportunities for horses bought for €45,000/£30,000 or less at store sales in Ireland and the UK, thereby, giving owners and trainers an opportunity to claim some of the €355,000 prize-money on offer. To enter the €75,000 final at the Punchestown festival, horses must have run in one of the thirteen qualifiers and have not won a listed race or a Grade 1, 2 or 3 race.
Gareth Connolly, CEO, Connolly’s RED MILLS; “This has been a long time coming and we’re delighted for the team at Punchestown that they’ll be welcoming back racegoers to this year’s highly anticipated Festival. This is the fourth year that Punchestown will host the €75,000 RED MILLS Irish EBF Auction Series Hurdle Final but only the second time in front of a crowd and it will be great to have the crowds and connections back to savour the occasion.
We appreciate that these are challenging times and are committed to continuing our industry support and hope to demonstrate this further during the festival though our stable staff canteen sponsorship and yard promotions. We plan to recognise and shine a light on the skills and commitment of the stable staff, who are the backbone of the industry and work tirelessly to provide the best care for the horses that we get to enjoy watching out on the track. The festival being five days can make it a very long week for stable staff, with early starts and late finished and we’ll be working with the team at Punchestown to ensure they are well catered for in the stable yard.”
Leona Hughes, Punchestown Sponsorship Coordinator welcomed the Connolly’s Red Mill’s initiative: “To put on a show like the Punchestown Festival takes a huge team of people and we consider everyone working hard behind the scenes be it in the yard, on the track, in the tv crews or catering teams to be part of one big production crew. Festival days are long and we see the horseboxes pulling in from mid-morning having travelled a distance. We see those same horseboxes leaving well after the last race. To perform to your best you need to be nourished and hydrated and we thank Red Mill’s for stepping up and taking on the stable yard canteen sponsorship. Having provided nutrition for horses for so long it is an ideal fit that they now help nourish those who look after them.”
The much-anticipated 2022 Punchestown Festival gets underway on Tuesday 26th April and runs until Saturday 30th when the season concludes. For event information and ticket bookings please visit www.punchestown.com
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Editors Notes:
In 2012, Connolly’s RED MILLS joined forces with Foran Equine, expanding their portfolio and applying their knowledge and manufacturing experience to both feed and supplement solutions.
A further demonstration of Connolly’s RED MILLS commitment to overall horse well-being and performance was the acquisition of Carr & Day & Martin, an international name in horse care solutions in 2019. With products spanning leather care, hoof care, coat care and healthcare, the Carr & Day & Martin range is renowned as the best in the market for equine care, with life-long advocates who vouch for this renowned brand.
Connolly’s RED MILLS, together with their sister brands Foran Equine and Carr Day Martin, put your horse at the centre of everything they do, with expert solutions designed to nourish, support and care for your horse.
RED MILLS together with their sister brands Foran Equine and Carr & Day & Martin will host competitions each day for the stable staff, including the return of the popular ‘Spin It To Win It’ wheel, as well as being on hand to offer any nutritional or turn out tips.
For over 100 years, Connolly’s RED MILLS has been marrying science, passion and experience to manufacture quality horse feed made from fresh natural ingredients sourced from our farms for performance horses worldwide.
Throughout the generations, our ambition and ethos is to provide the most advanced equine nutrition on a global scale. We focus on rigorous best practices for testing methods and innovation at our state-of-the-art Research and Development centre.
Connolly’s RED MILLS, together with our sister brands Foran Equine and Carr Day Martin, put your horse at the centre of everything we do. Our expert solutions are designed to nourish, support and care for you horse.
Equine Greats lead the way at the Punchestown Festival in The Great Comeback
HoneyHill clash, Clan Des Obeaux title defence & Galopin Des Champs/Bob Olinger rematch just some of the treats in store
A stupendous catalogue of some of jump racing’s most lustrous talents feature as the entries for the Punchestown Festival’s 12 Grade 1 races are released today.
Anticipation is building for what is being billed as ‘The Great Comeback’ as the five-day Punchestown Festival gets under way on Tuesday, April 26 and continues right through to Saturday, April 30.
Quality is the watchword throughout all the categories, as a host of previous Grade 1 winners, Cheltenham and Aintree victors, elite champions and stars of the future eye the Punchestown Festival to bring the curtain down on another thrilling season of jumps racing.
The dream heavyweight clash between record-breaking champion, dual Champion Hurdle winner and 2021 PADDY POWER CHAMPION HURDLE victor Honeysuckle and the pretender to her throne, Constitution Hill is still in the pipeline.
The eye is drawn to a host of delectable treats right through the five-day carnival but the prospect of HoneyHill unfolding at such an arena and with so much at stake has the entire racing world on tenterhooks.
The Friday, April 29 feature has attracted ten entries in total, with Henderson also opting to give an entry to Epatante, Honeysuckle’s predecessor as Cheltenham Champion Hurdle winner, who chased her home in March before recording an impressive triumph in the Aintree Hurdle on Saturday.
Gordon Elliott has entered Teahupoo and Zanahiyr. The former disappointed in the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle when hotly fancied, Zanahiyr was a brave third before falling at the last flight in the Aintree Hurdle when still in contention.
Elliott has enjoyed a very strong campaign, with five domestic Grade 1s, two Cheltenham successes and then Saturday’s stunning Grade 1 double at Aintree, on the same day that Delta Work finished third in the Grand National.
He has many fond memories of the Punchestown Festival and emphasises it as a high priority in his year.
“We’ve made entries for all the Grade 1 races at Punchestown and we will be well represented throughout the week,” said Elliott.
“It’s our season-ending Festival in Ireland and a fantastic five days. We’ve had a bit of luck there in the past and hopefully we can finish the season off with a high. It’s where my owners want to have runners and it’s where I want to have runners.
“We had two winners at Cheltenham and two Grade 1 winners at Aintree and the horses have been running well. We haven’t always had the best of luck in the last few weeks but a lot of the horses that weren’t winning were hitting the crossbar and finishing second so it was brilliant to have the couple of big winners at Aintree and see Delta Work and Escaria Ten run so well in the National itself.
“We’ve had some great days at Punchestown. It’s a brilliant place and they’ve a great team there on the track and behind the scenes and they provide beautiful ground which is so important at this time of year.
“My memories of Punchestown go way back. I won the Grade 1 Champion Bumper there on King’s Road in 1998 for Nigel Twiston-Davies. For me to win a Grade 1 as a jockey was a brilliant thrill and that was another great day… that wasn’t today or yesterday though!
“We won the race with Fayonagh then in 2017 when she did the Cheltenham/Punchestown double which was another great day. She was a special mare.
“I’ll never forget the day Don Cossack won the Punchestown Gold Cup there in 2015. I had made no secret of how much I thought of Don Cossack and he showed how tough and talented he was that day after being third at Cheltenham and winning at Aintree he still came back and put up one of his best performances to date to win at Punchestown.”
Three Stripe Life was among Elliott’s Liverpool leviathans and the six-year-old is included a stellar line-up in Friday’s other Grade 1, the ALANNA HOMES CHAMPION NOVICE HURDLE, where he could be joined by Minella Crooner, who is also among the IRISH MIRROR NOVICE HURDLE entries.
“I’d hope to have a runner in each of the novice hurdles. Three Stripe Life was brilliant at Aintree and will go over fences next season so he might take in Punchestown but again, he’ll tell us over the next few days. He’s a horse to really look forward to next season.
“Minella Crooner has options of the Alanna Homes and the Irish Mirror Novice Hurdles. It was disappointing that he picked up a setback just before Cheltenham but it was very minor. We were just forced to miss a few days with him at the wrong time but he’ll go to Punchestown fresh now and I’ve been happy with him in the last couple of weeks and I’m looking forward to getting him back out.”
Sir Gerhard denied Three Stripe Life at Grade 1 level at the Dublin Racing Festival and Cheltenham and he is also included in the entries for the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle. Other top-tier victors from the Willie Mullins yard, The Nice Guy and Minella Cocooner could also line up, while Aintree Grade 1 winner Jonbon is another possibility to represent Nicky Henderson and champion owner, JP McManus.
The Punchestown Festival kicks into gear on Tuesday, April 26 with three Grade 1s, the BECTIVE STUD CHAMPION NOVICE HURDLE starting it all off. Constitution Hill, Sir Gerhard, Three Stripe Life and Jonbon hold entries in this contest too, while County Hurdle winner State Man would be an intriguing contender.
Three Stripe Life’s fellow Cullentra inmate, Mighty Potter got the better of him in the Paddy Power Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas but will be on the redemption trail after being pulled up in the Supreme at Cheltenham.
“Mighty Potter didn’t run his race at Cheltenham but has come home well and he’ll definitely go to Punchestown and I’d love to have a big winner there for his owners, Andrew and Gemma Brown.
“We also have Fil Dor for them as well and he’ll go for the BALLYMORE CHAMPION FOUR-YEAR-OLD HURDLE on the Saturday. He has to try turn the tables with Vauban, who beat him at Cheltenham and the Dublin Racing Festival but we’ll give it a go. Punchestown is a different type of test and if he can run his race we’d be delighted.”
Tuesday’s other Grade 1s include the DOOLEY INSURANCE CHAMPION NOVICE CHASE and WILLIAM HILL CHAMPION CHASE.
The latter may only have attracted seven entries but it offers the likelihood of the Cheltenham champion Energumene resuming rivalries with his Closutton stablemate Chacun Pour Soi, who came a cropper five out at Prestbury Park and has a fantastic Punchestown Festival record. Another stablemate, Ryanair Chase winner Allaho is also included, along with the Joseph O’Brien-trained Aintree Grade 1 winner Fakir D’oudairies.
Meanwhile, the DOOLEY INSURANCE NOVICE CHAMPION CHASE offers the possibility of a fantastic rematch between Galopin Des Champs and Bob Olinger, with the former having fallen at the last with the Turners Novice Chase at his mercy. Bob Olinger picked up the pieces but was reported afterwards by trainer Henry de Bromhead to have suffered a muscle injury.
There are three more Grade 1 prizes up for grabs on Wednesday, April 27, the most sumptuous dish on the menu perhaps being the LADBROKES PUNCHESTOWN GOLD CUP, which features the Paul Nicholls-trained defending champion, Clan Des Obeaux attempting a remarkable ‘Double Double’, having repeated his Betway Bowl success of 12 months ago at Aintree last week. His bold, front-running effort in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup last year was one of the highlights of the entire week.
Dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Al Boum Photo was a length-and-a-half second on that occasion is likely to be back in the fray, as is his Cheltenham successor Minella Indo, who finished second in this year’s renewal to stablemate, A Plus Tard.
Another Grade 1-winning chaser set to take part is the Gordon Elliott-prepped Galvin, who finished just two and a half lengths behind Minella Indo in fourth last month. Elliott has also given an entry to Delta Work, who followed his Cross-Country Chase defeat of Tiger Roll with a very brave run in Saturday’s Grand National.
“Galvin is in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup and hopefully he’ll go there,” Elliott revealed.
“He kept answering every call for us this season and earned his crack at the Gold Cup. He ran well, he finished fourth and if we can freshen him up and get him back to Punchestown in good order he has some very solid form and it would be nice to give him another go at a race like that before he goes on his summer holidays. Delta Work has probably done enough for the season but we’ll have a chat with Michael and Eddie. They are very sporting in how they make their entries and they’ll let the horse tell us how he is closer to the time.”
The RACE & STAY AT PUNCHESTOWN INH FLAT RACE offers the possibility of another interesting reunion in the form of exciting Cheltenham Champion Bumper Facile Vega and American Mike, who was a valiant runner-up.
Sire Du Berlais put up a career best performance in claiming the scalp of dual Stayers’ Hurdle hero Flooring Porter at Aintree on Saturday and Elliott will see how JP McManus’s two-time Cheltenham Festival winner recovers from those exertions before deciding whether he takes on the likes of his Coral Cup-winning stablemate Commander Of Fleet, as well as Klassical Dream, Thyme Hill and the Emma Lavelle-trained former champion stayer, Paisley Park in the LADBROKES CHAMPION STAYERS HURDLE on Thursday, April 28.
“Sire Du Berlais probably did surprise me a small bit but he had the form to put up that type of performance and it was great to get him back to that,” Elliott enthused.
“He beat a very good horse in Flooring Porter and we were delighted. He is in the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers at Punchestown and we’ll just see how he comes home from Liverpool over the next few days and I’ll speak with JP McManus and Frank Berry and we’ll see what we do.
“We’ve got Commander Of Fleet in there as well and he deserves to take his chance after Cheltenham. He is a horse we’ve always liked and he was good and tough in Cheltenham and is on the ticket for Punchestown.”
Gentleman De Mee lowered the colours of Arkle Chase winner Edwardstone in Aintree last week and he heads a seven-strong Willie Mullins team in the BARBERSTOWN CASTLE NOVICE CHASE that also includes Dublin Racing Festival Grade 1 winner, Blue Lord as well as Gavin Cromwell’s Arkle runner-up Gabynako, who finished just ahead of Blue Lord at Cheltenham.
A fantastic feast concludes on Saturday, April 30, with two Grade 1s. The second of those is the aforementioned Ballymore Champion Four-Year-old Hurdle, while Nicky Henderson includes Epatante as well as Cheltenham Mares’ Hurdle winner Marie’s Rock in the COOLMORE IRISH EBF MARES’ CHAMPION HURDLE.
There’s No Place Like Home – Ruby Walsh Joins the Punchestown Team
Champion Ruby Walsh To Champion Punchestown
As the much anticipated 2022 Punchestown Festival approaches the racecourse today announced Ruby Walsh as Punchestown Brand Champion in a move that will see the 12 time champion jockey officially champion the home of Irish jump racing.
The Ruby Walsh story is one that has roots in Punchestown racecourse itself, a place that is very special to Ireland’s winning most national hunt jockey of all time. Born and raised only a few miles as the crow flies from the famous venue, Punchestown has been the stage for many highlights of Walsh’s illustrious career. Now a new chapter begins. In addition to a history-making career between the rails the 42-year old has successfully transitioned to broadcast pundit, presenter and columnist. For Walsh Punchestown is personal. His new role at the home of Irish jump racing extends beyond that of brand ambassador, consultant, expert or advisor. Walsh will work alongside the Punchestown team as they continue to improve, enhance and safeguard the future of the iconic racecourse.
Looking forward to embracing the role Walsh said “For me Punchestown is home and there’s no where like home. It’s is such a special place for me and my family. It’s always been a massive part of my life ever since I was a kid riding ponies and now I bring my own girls there for pony camp. From the festival in spring to the launch of the national hunt proper in the autumn I always seem to be at Punchestown whatever the season. This is more than a passion project and I will focus on areas that I consider to be key to the quality and appeal of racing such as attracting more UK runners to the festival and throughout the season. It’s a fantastic track with brilliant prize money and great hospitality for connections.”
Walsh added: “In 2023 Punchestown celebrates 200 years. Obviously whilst I won’t be around to see it I’d like to make a contribution and play my part in safe guarding the home of Irish jump racing for another 200 years!”
Conor O’Neill Punchestown CEO welcomed Walsh by saying: “Ruby has proven himself to be as capable on the ground as in the saddle when it comes to strategy, policy and the general awareness of the realities of balancing the commerciality of racing as a product whilst respecting the tradition and heritage of the game and the contribution of those who invest in it. With an incredible network of contacts and a career that has spanned 24 years, 213 grade one wins, 12 jockey championships and success in Ireland, the UK, Japan, Australia, France and the United States qualifies Ruby as somewhat of an expert in our eyes!”
The Walsh family is intrinsically linked to Punchestown. The only track in Ireland to showcase the traditional cross-country style racing, the track features the synonymous ‘Ruby’s Double’ a grass double bank which was erected in 1995 by the Moran Family of Pennsylvania in memory of their friend Ruby Walsh senior, father of Ted. The Morans of course owned 2000 Grand National and Irish National hero Papillon trained by Ted and ridden by Ruby. Both Ruby’s sister, top amateur Katie, and sister-in-law Nina Carberry decided to hang up their boots with winning rides at the 2018 Punchestown Festival.
Call it destiny, luck or fate but Walsh’s first win at Punchestown came by default when as a wetbehind the ears 17-year-old amateur he was in the weighroom preparing for home. Enda Bolger had just ridden in the champion bumper but was standing down for the rest of the day. As Bolger walked through the weighroom he tossed a set of colours to Walsh and said “you ride that in the next”. The set of colours were the famous plain navy of Sue and John Magnier, the next was the champion Hunters Chase and ‘that’ was Dixon Varner. Walsh won. The die was cast.
Walsh himself would say that many of his memorable career moments came at Punchestown. He is the winning most jockey in what is now the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup and the Paddy Power Champion Hurdle with six wins in each. Walsh’s gold cup story begins at the very start. Upgraded from a handicap, 1999 was the inaugural running of the Grade 1 Punchestown Gold Cup that we know today. The horse was Imperial Call who in 1996 became the first Irish trained horse to win the Cheltenham Gold cup after a ten-year drought. Imperial Calls career was interrupted by injury but as a ten-year-old now trained by Ray Hurley with a 19-year-old Ruby Walsh on his back Imperial Call returned to the winners enclosure and entered the history books as the first winner of the Punchetsown Gold Cup. The following year an even better tale comes to fruition. Undoubtedly, the most remarkable season in the Walsh family’s racing history to date. Ruby and his father Ted team up to win the Aintree Grand National with Papillion. The show rolls on to the to Easter at Fairyhouse – another national in the bag this time with Commanche Court. Fast forward a couple of weeks to Punchestown and the Dermot Desmond owned ‘Commanche’ steps up to grade 1 glory in the Punchestown Gold Cup. At 20 years of age Ruby Walsh has exceeded and excelled.
Soon after Walsh was balancing a hugely successful arrangement as first rider for both Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls. The Walsh-Nicholls partnership certainly benefited Punchestown whilst reaping rewards for the duo and to this day Neptune Collonge is the only back to back winner of the Punchestown Gold Cup. Two of Walshs three Punchestown champion wins came from the Nicholls stable with the quirky Twist Magic (2008) and the brilliant Master Minded (2009).
The Punchestown champion hurdle has been the stage for some of Walsh’s most memorable Punchestown moments. The brilliant Hurricane Fly dominated the number one spot for four consecutive years and whilst Walsh missed out on the 2010 win due to injury it was a copy and paste scenario in 2011, ‘12 and ‘13. Vroum Vroum Mag and the wonderful Faugheen delivered the goods in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
And so to 2019. Rumours rumbled but there was no farewell tour or fanfare. A gold cup win and a wave as he crossed the line on Kemboy for longtime boss Willie Mullins. Walsh family members with emotion etched all over their faces started to gather in the parade ring and the reality began to sink in. Tears ran down Ted seniors face. Then, during his post-race interview over the racecourse PA system Walsh called it a day. Low key, on his own terms, at his favourite track surrounded by family and friends. Class.
Looking ahead to the future Ruby’s first assignment will be at Aintree. A word of advice to winning connections – plan ahead for a trip to Punchestown! One thing is sure, what Ruby Walsh applies himself to he succeeds at through dedication, strategic thinking and hard work and Punchestown will continue to be a beneficiary of this sporting icon.
The 2022 Punchestown Festival takes place from Tuesday 26th to Saturday 30th April. For full event details and bookings please visit www.punchestown.com
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Trainer Peter Fahey has big plans for The Big Dog as the nine-year-old returns to Punchestown on Sunday looking for back-to-back successes in the Hollywoodbets Grand National Trial. A field of 13 runners go to post for Sunday’s €90,000 feature on what is a fascinating day of racing at the Kildare venue.
The Big Dog had a luckless trip to the Welsh National at Chepstow when he had to be pulled up after a blunder at the ninth fence saw Johnny Burke lose his irons and forced him to pull up but Fahey believes that The Big Dog has improved since his Punchestown success 12-months ago and is still eyeing a potential tilt at the most famous race of all, the English Grand National at Aintree.
“That was his first run in a handicap when he won this race last year and he’s come on since then,” Fahey said on Friday morning. “We haven’t had the rub of the green with him since; we were sitting for Chepstow but everything seems to be going right with him and he seems in good form. “I suppose the biggest plus from Chepstow was that it happened so early in the race and he came home a very fresh horse. He didn’t have a hard race.”
Elite amateur rider Jamie Codd renews his association with The Big Dog this weekend and gave Fahey the right vibes in midweek. “It was unfortunate what happened over in Chepstow but he’s come out of the race fine and he’s working away well. Jamie Codd sat up on him on Tuesday morning and was delighted with him. We’re looking forward to running him,” Fahey continued. “We always knew when we stepped him up into handicap company, where he’s better in a bigger field, it would be better for him. He was running around in beginner’s chases with small fields and running big races in them (including finishing a close third to subsequent Thyestes Chase and Troytown Chase winners Longhouse Poet and Run Wild Fred also at Punchestown) but we always knew he’s a better horse in a big field. “If he runs a big race, we’d be definitely considering going to Aintree. Hopefully we’ll get the rub of the green this time and put in the type of performance we think he’s capable of.”
The Hollywoodbets Grand National Trial is headed on ratings by the Gordon Elliott-trained Coko Beach who is one of four runners for the trainer. Floueur, Death Duty and Torygraph complete his team for the race, while Gavin Cromwell has two interesting contenders in Alfa Mix and Jimmil. Stones And Roses represents champion trainer Willie Mullins and Charles Byrnes has booked Liam Quinlan to take a 5lbs allowance off Doctor Duffy.
Elsewhere on Sunday’s card, Cheltenham Festival clues could be on offer in the Hollywoodbets Rated Novice Chase as the Willie Mullins-trained Ciel De Neige chases a hat-trick against the likes of Dancing On My Own, You Raised Me Up and Poseidon.
The INH Stallion Owners EBF Novice Hurdle looks an intriguing contest with the highly touted Largy Debut bidding to bounce back from a disappointing outing at Leopardstown over Christmas. He’ll meet the Willie Mullins-trained Deploy The Getaway and the highly impressive course and distance winner Supreme Jet.
Racing on Sunday begins with the Hollywoodbets PP Hogan Cross Country Chase over Punchestown’s famous banks course and some old favourites like Call It Magic, Alpha Des Obeaux and Ballyboker Bridge will line up here.
Hollywoodbets is thrilled to enjoy the golden opportunity of reinvesting in the Irish racing community on the occasion of the purple brand’s 2nd birthday.
We are celebrating the milestone by promoting the Hollywoodbets Grand National Trial at Punchestown on Sunday 13 February. Hollywoodbets is offering a promotion aligned to the Hollywoodbets Grand National trial. Place a win bet with a minimum stake of £/€10 on the Hollywoodbets Grand National Trial at Punchestown and stand a chance to win a share of £/€10,000 if your selection wins and then goes on to win either the English or Irish Grand National.
Hollywoodbets’ Andrew Halligan said that this incentive is a massive boost for Irish Racing punters and creates a great hype over the period from 13th February to 18thApril.
“We are excited to get behind the Irish racing punters! Please look out for the Hollywoodbets activation team, who will be on course at Punchestown on Sunday” Halligan said.
Log onto www.hollywoodbets.ie for all your betting opportunities.
First Race: 1.40pm & seven races on the card.
Gates: 12pm
Admission: €15 & €10 OAP’s/Student’s
Don’t Forget: Last Chance to SAVE 15% on Festival 2022 tickets, offer ends midnight Sunday 13 Feb. Book Here