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group of smiling people accepting an award

Punchestown crowned Irish Racecourse of The Year at a prestigious Horse Racing Ireland awards ceremony on Monday 8th December.

In a star-studded event held in Dublin’s historic Round Room at the Mansion House, the home of Irish Jump Racing regained the title as racecourse of the year.

The racecourse category is awarded based on public votes, combined with votes from each of Ireland’s 26 racecourses and a select Horse Racing Ireland committee with a focus on sustainability.

Punchestown was amongst great company with the winners list including Galopin Des Champs, Willie and Patrick Mullins and the now iconic Rachael Blackmore.

Speaking on behalf of the team and directors Punchestown CEO Conor O’Neill said: “By any measure 2025 was an exceptional year at Punchestown. Our festival was a true celebration of our sport with amazing stories, huge crowds, great results, wonderful atmosphere all in beautiful sunshine. The festival may be a highlight but throughout the year we have great days at Punchestown and we really mean it when we say that it’s the people that make the place. The racecourse is the stage for the end result of so many peoples and horses efforts. Now we need to continue to improve, build on what we have try to hold onto the trophy!”

The ten winners at the 23rd Horse Racing Ireland Awards were:

Contribution to the Industry Rachael Blackmore
Racecourse of the Year Punchestown Racecourse
Flat Award Dylan Browne McMonagle
National Hunt Award Willie Mullins
Flat Achievement Award Joseph Murphy
National Hunt Achievement Award Patrick Mullins
Emerging Talent Award Nicola Burns
Point-to-Point Award Sam Curling
Ride of the Year Award Alan O’Sullivan on Filey Bay at Galway
Horse of the Year Galopin Des Champs / Ethical Diamond

The €100,000 Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series Launches at Punchestown Premiere Weekend 

This will be the third running of the series with both Scotland and England on the scoreboard. 

“Punchestown is the only place I want to be again!” – 2025 Winning Trainer Mike Smith

 

The Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series returns for the 2025/26 jump racing season, marking the third consecutive year of the popular cross channel, multi-region series. Supported by Albert Bartlett, the UK’s leading producer of potato products, the series continues to bring together horses, trainers and owners across England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Twelve qualifiers will get underway on the opening day of Punchestown Premiere Weekend, 22 November before embarking on a tour of the five regions ultimately leading to the €100,000 Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series Final on Tuesday 28th April 2026, the opening day of the Punchestown Festival.

Albert Bartlett Chairman Ronnie Bartlett outlined the key driver behind their support of the series “The key objective of the series is to encourage travel, cohesion and alignment throughout jump racing in the UK and Ireland with the exciting prospect of horses trained and owned throughout the regions aiming to compete at the Punchestown Festival. The series allows owners and trainers to visit new tracks, cross the Irish sea, meet with new peers, all built around enjoying flagship race days and competing for meaningful prize money. Ultimately we hope this will create more fulfilling, memorable and entertaining days for race fans to enjoy and that’s what it is all about.”

The 2025 renewal proved a landmark moment, with an unprecedented ten UK-trained runners travelling to Punchestown for the final – a record level of participation that highlights the growing appeal of the series.

Now entering its third year, Ireland are still seeking their first victory with England and Scotland sharing one win apiece following successes for Herefordshire trainer Tom Lacey (2024) and Ayrshire trainer Mike Smith (2025).

Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series Details

 Each qualifier will be a hurdle race run over a distance between two miles two furlongs and two miles six furlongs, exclusively for horses rated 0–120.

2025/26 Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series Qualifiers

22/11/25- Punchestown

04/01/26- Chepstow

11/01/26- Punchestown

22/01/26- Huntingdon

25/01/26- Naas

13/02/26- Kelso

14/02/26- Gowran Park

25/02/26- Wincanton

06/03/26- Ayr

17/03/26- Down Royal

19/03/26- Cork

27/03/26- Wetherby

For further information contact Sean Crowe, Punchestown Racing Department – info@punchestown.com

Winners of the famous Velka Pardubicka from outside the Czech Republic has been as rare as hen’s teeth in the past 30 years, but Stumptown leads the charge to become the first ever Irish-trained winner of the race on Sunday since its creation in 1874.

The winner of cross country races at Cheltenham and Punchestown is one of three declarations for the race trained outside the Czech Republic, looking to break a home-trained stranglehold on the race. It’s A Snip in 1995, and before that, Stephen’s Society in 1973, are two in just seven foreign-trained winners of the race in 60 years.
Gavin Cromwell, whose expertise spans major Flat races as much as the top echelon of Jumping, reported Stumptown to have set off for Pardubice on Monday, and will join him there for Sunday’s race, his first visit with a runner, although he attended as a spectator 18 years ago.

“We’re delighted to have a runner. It’s a unique discipline and some stuff at Pardubice will be new to my horse. If he takes to it, he’ll take some beating,” he reported today. Owners, the Furze Bush Syndicate, led by Ger Teahon, will be in vociferous support of jockey Keith Donoughue, who has an outstanding record in cross country events.
The Irish challenge is completed by Peter Maher’s Cavalry Master and a late purchase, trained by Mrs Arthur Moore, in Gentleman de Reve. Cavalry Master, who joined Peter Maher from Gordon Elliott last January, has been well beaten and pulled up in two outings over the banks course at Punchestown and ridden by Francis O’Keefe. Gentleman de Reve is a different kettle of fish altogether.

The French-bred has been running in the best cross country company under the guidance of Emmanuel Clayeux. Six sporting US owners, led by Dixon Stroud, one of the leading US timber race owners, tasked their Maryland trainer, Joe Davies, to find a horse, to be ridden by son Teddy, who is diverting from University studies this weekend to take the mount, and has already tasted big race success in the 2024 Maryland Hunt Cup. He pulled up in the Czech race last year a mile from home after his horse blew up. Co-owners Sam Slater, Charles Noell, Victoria Crawford, Mary Charlotte Parr and Dann Colhoun will travel from Baltimore later this week.

Gentleman de Reve is not eligible to run in US jump races, so will lodge with Peter Maher after the race with a view to taking in cross country races at Punchestown and possibly Cheltenham. Expect him to figure in Crystal Cup standings as the series develops.

“These are a group of great sporting owners,” reported Joe Davies. “Dixon set his heart on the Velka some time back, and this is our second attempt. I guess if you’re fishing for Moby Dick, best bring the tartare sauce.” American parlance for fancying their chances, we think.
But if the English-speaking raiders think this will be an easy task, they are sorely mistaken. The entire Czech steeplechase calendar is built around qualifying for this 4 1/2m contest, so no surprise that course and distance winners do well here.

The home team is led by Klarc Kent, a length second to Captain Cody in the Scottish National last April when trained by Willie Mullins. Since purchased by Jiří Charvát, Chair of the Czech Jockey Club and owner of Most Racecourse, an hour north west of Prague, his single race over cross country obstacles to date was disappointing, giving him ground to make up on Dulcar de Sivola and Stormmy, but if that experience has taught him how to deal with the wide variety of fences this discipline presents, his rating should put him in with a strong chance.
Two of last year’s first three line up again for a race in which 4 horses have won on 3 or more consecutive occasions since 1987, the most recent being Orphée des Blins in 2014. Last year’s dead heat winner Sexy Lord, trained by Martina Růžičková, has enjoyed a near perfect prep, winning at Pardubice over 5,800m in June with several of Sunday’s runners behind, and a length second to Chelmsford in an identical race in August. The gelding has the beating of Cuwall, Lost, Dumon du Roclay and Zarate on the form of those races. Zarate is one of two mounts James Best has picked up at Pardubice.

Eight year old High In The Sky hasn’t won for trainer Dalibor Török since October ’23, finishing a never-challenging second in his qualifying race at the start of September. Charyjape also has plenty to prove against Dulcar de Sivola on the form of their last meeting here in early September. Araucarias was an 8l second to the French-bred on that occasion too.
The Velka Pardubicka, now in its 135th year, throws up occasional surprising results in the way Aintree used to before modification of the fences turned it into a fairly orthodox, albeit very valuable, handicap. As a conditions race, all bar the mare, Lost, carry 70kg, lending the advantage to those familiar with both the obstacles and course. Stumptown is however, more highly rated than any of the other runners, and with luck in running, should prevail over Sexy Lord with Zarate fancied to fill the minor placings.