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We are delighted to introduce a new initiative at Punchestown called The Full Circle Series. In an age of super yards and fierce competition, this series provides an great opportunity for the horses in the competitive 1 – 130 category and their respective connections to compete for a big prize at a feature festival.

Aimed at two and a half mile handicap hurdlers rated in the region of 130, the series will consist of ten qualifiers, five UK and five in Ireland.  The qualifiers will be held between December 2023 and March 2024 before coming Full Circle back to the grand final on the opening day of the Punchestown Festival, Tuesday 30th April 2024.  The first six horses to finish in each leg will qualify for the grand finale with a prize pot of €60,000.

Richie Galway, Punchestown Racing Manager outlines the thinking behind the Full Circle Series: “There are two main objectives for this new series. Firstly we acknowledge just how high the standard of racing is in Ireland at the moment. Hopefully this series will give the smaller trainer and owners an opportunity to compete for a huge pot on a feature day on the calendar.” Galway continued: “Another key reason is to reinvigorate the essential involvement of UK trained and owned horses at Punchestown. We have been fortunate enough through the years to have amazing support from throughout the UK so we have qualifiers across all regions. This is an extraordinary opportunity for a horses at a certain level”.

 

THE FULL CIRCLE QUALIFIERS

 

FULL CIRCLE SERIES DETAILS

The Full Circle is a 10 race series that will take place across the UK & Ireland with the final being held at the 2024 Punchestown Festival.

Each qualifier will be a hurdle race over a distance of between 2 miles 2 furlongs and 2 miles 6 furlongs for horses within the (0-130) rating band.

The first six horses home in each qualifier will be eligible to enter the grande finale.

The Full Circle series final will be run over 2 miles 4 furlongs at the 2024 Punchestown Festival.

Five Full Circle qualifiers will be hosted at specially selected tracks in the UK with the remaining five taking place at Irish courses.

The qualifier races in the series will take place from December 2023 to March 2024.

This series begins (launch) and ends (finale) in Punchestown. It travels The Full Circle.

 

For further information please contact the Richie and Sean on racing@punchestown.com or call +353 45 897704

An  additional fixture has been announced  for Punchestown on Tuesday, May 23

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has announced there will be an additional meeting at Punchestown on Tuesday afternoon, May 23. This meeting is one of the three floating fixtures that were kept in reserve when the 2023 fixture list was published in order to meet the demands of the horse population at specific times of the year.

This meeting will close for entries by 12 noon on Thursday May 18 with declarations to run to be made by 10am on Sunday May 21.

The race programme details for this meeting will be published in due course and the time of the first race will be at 1.45pm.

Advance bookings save €5. €15 admission on the day.

 

Punchestown Returns with The Homecoming Festival

**Download Festival Fact Sheet**

Media Release : They’re coming home! The winners, the heroes and the champions return to the home of Irish jump racing for the grand finale of the season as the 2023 Punchestown Festival returns from Tuesday 25th to Saturday 29th April.

Organisers anticipate an attendance of 110,000 people across the five-day event that attracts visitors from throughout Ireland, the UK and further afield. The main attraction is the prestigious top-class racing that showcases the very best of Irish racing talent including Rachael Blackmore, Willie Mullins , Henry de Bromhead and Paul Townend. Visiting trainers from the UK are an integral feature of the festival with regulars such as Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls and new comer Olly Murphy sending horses across. A fully subscribed sponsorship portfolio of 50 event partners delivers an impressive prize fund of over €3.3 million on offer across forty races including twelve grade one contests. The entries for the flagship races are now closed and feature equine superstars including major festival players Galopin Des Champs, Energumene, Bravemansgame and Envoi Allen.

People make Punchestown and key to all great celebrations is the combination of guest list, live entertainment, delicious food, amazing style and this is where the Punchestown Festival delivers in spades. Over 17,000 hospitality clients from 795 companies, 158 of which are UK based, will enjoy delicious seasonal menus prepared and served by 60 chefs, 420 catering staff and 280 bar staff. Catering for this number means large scale and three tonnes of fresh vegetables, over 60 kilos of artisan cheeses and 15,000 portions of petit four desserts and canapes will be enjoyed over the five days. Throughout the pavilions, bars and enclosures the atmosphere builds with live music, street theatre and DJ sets running alongside shopping village and full entertainment programme.

The Bollinger Best Dressed competition is one of Ireland’s most prestigious style contests in the country with finalists chosen across the first four days progressing to the final on ladies day, Friday 28th April. Open to all, the fresh take on race day style encourages racegoers of all ages to be creative, sustainable and brave in a bid to win the ‘money can’t buy’ prize to Paris and The Bollinger Chateuax in Champagne region. An all-star cast featuring some of Ireland’s most popular style names make up The Style Council who will select the winners.

As one of Ireland’s largest events the Punchestown Festival is big business bringing a massive boost to the local economy with over €25 million generated through tourism, leisure and associated spends. However, the event also plays a significant community roll working alongside local GAA clubs and charities to generate funds through volunteer schemes and fundraising initiatives. The Punchestown Kidney Research Charity race, now in its 32 year, has raised close to €2 million and is joined this year by charities Barretstown, Samaritans, Cara Girls Project and Cystic Fibrosis Ireland.

Punchestown CEO Conor O’Neill looked ahead to the event: “The Punchestown Festival is a combination of so many moving parts. A showcase of Irish sporting excellence, one of the largest corporate events in the country, a huge social occasion, an essential fundraiser and a gathering of 100,000 people of all ages, urban and rural who will share in a memorable experience. People make Punchestown and we look forward to welcoming friends old and new to the home of Irish racing for the last week of April”.

 

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Shona Dreaper, Punchestown Racecourse

Contact: 045 897704 or sdreaper@punchestown.com

 

No-repro Fee images – https://we.tl/t-RJBYK6NqvW

Social Media Assets – https://we.tl/t-62fmsDzTh0

 

Event Notes:

The 2022 Punchestown Festival takes place from Tuesday 25th to Saturday 29th April.

Tickets from €35pp are available at www.punchestown.com Pre-booking is advised.

Discount group deals are available online.

Concession senior and student tickets are only available to purchase on the day.

Contactless payment available throughout the venue. Cash accepted but visitors are advised to collect cash in advance of their arrival to avoid queues.

 

 

 

AQUATABS INLINE PARTNER WITH PUNCHESTOWN IN RACECOURSE FIRST

World’s leading water purification system becomes official water partner at the home of Irish jumps racing

 

MEDIA RELEASE TUESDAY 7TH FEBRUARY 2023 – Aquatabs InLine, the world’s leading water purification system, is delighted to become the official water partner at Punchestown Racecourse following the installation of its closed-water system throughout the main and visiting stable yards in January this year.

To launch this unique partnership Aquatabs InLine will sponsor the famous P.P. Hogan Cross Country chase at the Grand National Trial Day on Sunday 19 February.

Punchestown Racecourse is the first track in Ireland to install Aquatabs’ InLine water system in the stable yards. The simple-to-install, low-cost, water purification system cleans a minimum of 360,000 litres of water and is the ideal solution for large race yards and race tracks.

Brought to the market by Kildare-based, equine solutions company, ARKequine, Aquatabs® is synonymous with supplying clean water around the world. Owned by Irish company Medentech, Aquatabs® kills microorganisms like viruses and bacteria commonly found in water and ensures Legionella is eliminated and biofilm remains under control.

ARKequine’s Kirsty McCann, Nutritional Manager, says “Water is very much the forgotten nutrient and we at ARKequine are working hard to change that. Our aim is to raise awareness of the importance of clean and plentiful water in racing and the home of Irish jumps racing is a great place to start that conversation ”.

Rosie Keary, Managing Director of Aquatabs InLine says “Aquatabs, a leading authority on human drinking water for nearly forty years are delighted to partner with ARKequine to bring the science and expertise behind our human drinking water brand to the equine sector. Sponsoring the famous P.P. Hogan Memorial chase in celebration of a unique partnership while highlighting the importance of clean, pure water makes for an auspicious beginning!

Leona Hughes, Sales & Sponsorship Manager at Punchestown says, “We are constantly looking for innovative ways to enhance and improve the race day experience at Punchestown for everyone from racegoers and industry staff to, in this case the stars of the show,  the horses. A huge volume of water is used in the stable yard each race day so it is essential that we provide the best quality that we can and that is where the ARKequine’s Aquatabs InLine system comes into play”.

The ARKequine Aquatabs InLine PP Hogan Memorial Cross Country Chase will be the opening contest on this high quality seven race card on  Sunday 19th February. Runners and riders will make their way to the start of the famous three mile cross country course for a 1.10pm start time.

 

**ENDS**

Editor Notes:

 

Mullins hoping SkyBet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle contender proves to be in top division at Punchestown

Impaire Et Passe will be the latest horse bursting with potential to represent champion trainer Willie Mullins in the Grade 2 SkyBet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown on Sunday.

Almost on a yearly basis Mullins nominates a novice from his top rank for Sunday’s feature race at the County Kildare venue and has won it previously with Mikael D’Haguenet, Vautour, Douvan, Min and last year with Dysart Dynamo. Impaire Et Passe’s Irish debut was extremely impressive when he recorded an 18-length success in a maiden hurdle at Naas last month and Patrick Mullins, assistant to his father, Willie, gave a positive update ahead of the weekend. “I think Impaire Et Passe is the obvious candidate for the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle,” Mullins said of the Simon Munir & Isaac Souede-owned five-year-old.

“He is a big scopey horse who won well at Naas the last day. He had been working well at home going to Naas but certainly nothing like what he showed that day and that surpassed our expectations.” The Mullins/Munir/Souede axis have also included Tax For Max in Sunday’s Grade 2 contest but Impaire Et Passe is the stable preference following yesterday’s entry stage. “Some horses thrive after winning a race and you can see them grow in confidence and Impaire Et Passe has come out of the race really well and I’d like to think he will progress from it. We’d like to think that he will be at the top end of his division,” Mullins added.

Opposition to Impaire Et Passe could come from course and distance winner The Model Kingdom.
The Noel Meade-trained filly was a Grade 3 winner at the Punchestown Festival last season when landing the Weatherbys GSB EBF Mares Bumper and returned to the track in November to score over hurdles.
The Model Kingdom’s fondness of Punchestown may give Meade a strong chance of winning the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle for the first time since Orbit O’Gold sprang a shock at odds of 50/1 in 2007.

Meade’s fellow County Meath native, Gordon Elliott, has enjoyed more recent success with Felix Desjy and Andy Dufresne giving him back-to-back victories in 2019 and 2020. Elliott’s potential representatives this year are Tramore winner Cardamon Hill, Imagine, who also won a bumper at Punchestown last year and the somewhat aptly named Shecouldbeanything who has won her three outings so far.
The potential line-up for the SkyBet Novice Hurdle is completed by the Tom Mullins-duo of C’est Rien and Hey Johnny.

The Grade 3 Madigan Group Novice Chase is another race on the card with an elite roll of honour. Carefully Selected, Envoi Allen and Bob Olinger could well be joined by another potential star with the likes of Mouse Morris’ Gentlemansgame and the Elliott-trained Minella Crooner among the nine going forward. Grade 2 winner Impervious is a big runner for trainer Colm Murphy with the six-year-old daughter of Shantou now carrying the colours of JP McManus after winning at Cork for Paul McKeon last month.
Willie Mullins is likely to be represented by Ha D’or who opened his account at the first time of asking with an impressive display at Fairyhouse.

“Ha D’or had graded form last year and took to chasing pretty well at Fairyhouse,” Patrick Mullins added. “He has been working well at home but this looks a very hot race. “Glengouly looks a better chaser than he was a hurdler but he will still need to make a step forward to get to the level of Ha D’or and some of the other potential runners in the race.”
Advance ticket discounts are available on www.punchestown.com.

Punchestown rescheduled for Monday December 19

Bective Stud Handicap Hurdle (Grade B) transferred to Navan this Sunday December 18 to replace Tara Handicap Hurdle (Grade B) which transfers to Punchestown on Saturday December 31

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has announced that last Sunday’s Punchestown meeting, which was cancelled due to frost, will now be held on Monday December 19. This meeting, which includes the Grade 1 John Durkan Memorial Steeplechase, will close for fresh entries by 12 noon on Wednesday December 14 with declarations to run to be made by 10am on Saturday December 17.

In addition to the above, there is an alteration to the race programme for the meeting scheduled for Navan this Sunday December 18. The Bective Stud Handicap Hurdle (Grade B) over 3 miles and 1 furlong, which was originally scheduled for last Saturday’s Navan meeting, which was cancelled due to frost, will now be held at this Sunday’s meeting and will replace The Tara Handicap Hurdle (Grade B) over two miles and four furlongs on this card. The Bective Stud Handicap Hurdle (Grade B) will close for fresh entries along with the remainder of the Navan meeting by 12 noon tomorrow (Tuesday December 13).

The Tara Handicap Hurdle (Grade B) will now transfer to the Punchestown meeting on Saturday December 31 (New Year’s Eve) and will replace The Tote.ie Never Beaten By SP Handicap Hurdle on this day. Entries for this race will close by 12 noon on Thursday December 22 along with the rest of the Punchestown meeting.

Unfortunately due to the severe weather conditions and continued forecast Sunday’s John Durkan Chase Day has been cancelled.

An update on possible reschedule will be available from Monday 12th December.

Any tickets purchased online will be automatically refunded. Hospitality clients will be contacted directly and all other related queries will be handled by the team from Monday morning.

Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to welcoming you back to Punchestown soon.

Any queries can be emailed to info@punchestown.com or please leave a message on +353 (0)45 897704