PUNCHESTOWN ON COURSE TO SURPASS GOLDEN BENCHMARK

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The challenge is set and the countdown is on for the 2026 Punchestown Festival, one of the most anticipated fixtures in the Irish sporting and social calendar, taking place from Tuesday 28th April to Saturday 2nd May.

With an ideal weather forecast on the radar, the Racecourse of The Year is preparing to go even bigger and better than last year’s record level attendance with advance ticket sales indicating a crowd of over 130,000 across five days. Whilst the best of Irish and British racing talent will battle it out across 40 races for the record €3.6 million prize fund, this occasion has evolved far beyond sport to become a flagship national entertainment event.

Punchestown CEO Conor O’Neill explains the scale and impact of the Festival: “World class championship sport remains at the heart of what we do and alongside this our strategy is to enhance, elevate, and excel in an extremely competitive leisure and entertainment market. The Punchestown Festival is big business, has a huge economic impact of over €70 million, boosts tourism by filling every hotel room in the region and attracts international interest from as far as the USA and Australia. Whilst the enclosures, pavilions and bars are packed with festival goers enjoying racing, great live entertainment, style, shopping, food and beverage, we will host over 24,000 people from 800 companies as Ireland’s largest corporate hospitality event with seasonal, locally sourced menus prepared and served by excellent teams of over 600 staff”.

O’Neill adds “I’m delighted to say that our hospitality is totally sold out midweek despite expanding capacity by 2,500 seats and introducing the new Horse Walk venue. Saturday has a handful of seats left”.

From Tuesday 28th April, the trainer and jockey championship battles will be decided whilst the social hub Southern Enclosure will host the iconic Sky Bar After Party, Pony Club live music stage and the coveted Bollinger Best Dressed Style award. New for 2026 will be the Kildare Village Grand Pavilion, Ireland’s biggest singles event in the Your Friend My Friend Saturday Pavilion, mobile DJ sets, the expanded Britvic Family fun zone and a host of new beverage and dining options across a huge variety of bars and pop-up outlets.

The very last ticket deal wraps up at midnight on Sunday 26th April after which premium Festival prices kick in for all those except seniors, students, teens and family who buy on the day. Organisers strongly advise using public transport where possible especially on Festival Friday. A complete transport plan is available on the website with plenty of additional local shuttle and regional bus services added for 2026.

With so many moving parts including compelling championship narratives, over 60 British raiders, ever-expanding hospitality, style stakes and entertainment reminiscent of the Oxegen years, the 2026 Punchestown Festival is poised to deliver another unforgettable chapter. The stage is set. The legacy is strong. The expectation is clear. See you at Punchestown.

Visit www.punchestown.com for ticket bookings and full event details.

Punchestown Racecourse is delighted to confirm the return of the Up The Yard Challenge Race for Irish stable and stud staff on bank holiday Monday, 2nd February 2026. Now firmly established since its launch in 2017, the race continues to shine a spotlight on the skilled riders who form the backbone of the racing and breeding industries.

The initiative was created to give yard and stud staff, many of whom ride out daily and play a crucial role in the sport, the chance to compete at the home of Irish jumps.

Punchestown Sponsorship Manager and event organiser Leona Hughes said:
“Anyone working in this industry knows the standard of riding talent that exists in yards and studs across the country. These riders are up with the dawn, producing young horses, and keeping the whole operation moving. This race is about giving them their moment on a major stage. If you’ve ever wanted to experience the buzz of the Punchestown straight with a crowd behind you, now is the time to get your name in.”

The 2026 running will take place after the final official race and will be contested over approximately one mile and seven furlongs. Yards and studs nationwide are invited to submit nominations by Monday 15th December 2025.

What’s New for 2026?

• A streamlined field of 16 riders only – no reserves will be selected.
• Nominees may have previously ridden in a charity race but must not have ridden under rules or in point-to-points.
• Riders will collectively select a charity, and each participant must raise a minimum of €500.
• All selected participants must complete a one-day charity race assessment at RACE in Kildare, coordinated by Punchestown.

Rider Criteria & Nominations

• Riders must be 18+.
• Maximum weight 12st (with 5lb allowance for mares).
• Must not have ridden under rules or in point-to-points in any jurisdiction.
• Nominations must include name, date of birth, contact number, and nominating yard, with trainer sign-off.
• Submit nominations by Monday 15th December 2025 to Leona Hughes at lhughes@punchestown.com

Full List Of Riders:

TRM Equine Nutrition Salute Stable Staff with Punchestown Season Best Turned Out Series

Media Release Monday 13th October 2025: As the jump racing season gets underway the skill, dedication and professionalism of Ireland’s stable staff will be in the spotlight as TRM Equine Nutrition, a global leader in equine supplements, partners with Punchestown Racecourse to launch the ‘Saddled In Style’ Best Turned Out Series for the 2025/2026 jumps season.
The series will run across all 20 fixtures at Punchestown between October and June, including the five-day Punchestown Festival in April. At each fixture, the Best Turned Out award of each race will earn points toward the season-long leaderboard, with the overall winning yard crowned at the final meeting on Sunday 7th June 2026.
Thanks to TRM Nutrition, the winning yard will receive a €1,000 TRM voucher, TRM-branded gear and a celebratory breakfast morning delivered to their stables, recognising the exceptional work of the teams who care for and present horses at the highest standards.

TRM is a global brand trusted in over 90 countries, providing world-class nutritional supplements and healthcare products for racehorses, sport horses and a wide range of performance and leisure horses. Despite its international reach, TRM remains proudly rooted in their county Kildare base. Punchestown staff who visited the Newbridge factory were impressed by the cutting-edge systems in place to guarantee the quality, integrity, and quantity of every product leaving the facility. TRM also adapts its products and branding for each jurisdiction it enters, ensuring local relevance while maintaining global standards.

Enda Kelly, TRM Chief Commercial Officer, said: TRM are thrilled to team up with Punchestown for the forthcoming season. National hunt racing, breeding and its heritage are a huge part of our core business dating back over 35 years of TRM’s history, and it is a wonderful opportunity to give something small back through this innovative sponsorship”.

Janet Creighton of Punchestown also added: “Punchestown has always valued the massive contribution made by stable staff. The annual Up The Yard Stud & Stable Staff Race is now established as a firm favourite and a highlight of the season. The TRM Best Turned Out Series now extends that recognition across all fixtures, rewarding the teams whose work is essential to Irish racing.”
The Punchestown season gets underway on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th October before rolling on to the early season highlight of The Premiere Weekend on 22nd and 23rd November.

FULL LEADERBOARD

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.