Cullentra duo among racing’s true success stories, regardless of championship battles at Punchestown Festival

 

Gordon Elliott is adamant that he is going into the season-concluding Punchestown Festival without any pressure, even as he leads Willie Mullins in the race to be champion trainer.

Jack Kennedy heads the jockeys’ championship and would love if the pair could complete a famous Cullentra House double but Elliott is sticking to his conviction that his wait for a maiden title will continue.

He will celebrate if Kennedy holds off Darragh O’Keeffe to bag his second championship but whatever unfolds, the 48-year-old has come to realise that success comes in many forms and the 2025-26 season has been a very fruitful one for his yard.

By any measure, it has been a phenomenal season for Elliott, with more than 200 winners trained and in excess of €5.5 million in prize money garnered between Ireland and Britain. He is €150,000 clear at the top of the trainers’ table with little over a week of the season remaining. His 11 Grade 1 winners speak to the high quality of his string too, just two off his PB.

And he is not done yet, with WODHOOH (SBK Irish EBF Mares’ Champion Hurdle) and TEAHUPOO (Ladbrokes Champion Stayers’ Hurdle) among his team for the festival, which runs from Tuesday, April 28th to Saturday, May 2nd and is offering a record €3.6 million in prize money.

That team has been strengthened further with the news that multiple Grade 1-winning pilot, Sam Ewing will be added to the roster of jockeys headed by Kennedy and also including Danny Gilligan and Jordan Gainford.

Ewing aggravated an old leg injury when falling at the Cheltenham Festival five weeks ago but received the green light on Tuesday morning and immediately hot-footed it to Cullentra House to ride his first piece of work.

“I can’t wait to get back at Punchestown,” said the young Antrim pilot. “I was out for five weeks and it was just a very bad time of the year to be out. I missed two days of Cheltenham, then Fairyhouse and Aintree and all those big meetings. So to be getting back on my first day for the Tuesday of Punchestown is great. I can’t wait.”

Ewing understands that getting the leg-up on any Elliott representative means you have a chance, even if Kennedy is on the likeliest victor.

Kennedy and Elliott are friends, though the latter is the paymaster. Elliott may appear more overtly driven. Kennedy is laconic in delivery, horizontal in general demeanour, but that masks a fierce competitiveness without which the Dingle native would not have returned from six broken legs and finally scaled the mountain peak at Punchestown in 2024.

Elliott has never hidden his obsessive desire to be champion trainer but whereas in his younger days, he might have considered finishing second a failure – and he has been runner-up to Mullins 13 times so far – he is able to smell the roses more now.

“We have four and a half million in prize money won in Ireland and a million in the UK,” says Elliott. “We’ve over 200 winners between both sides of the Sea. And we have 11 Grade 1 winners trained this season – 13 has been our best ever season, you know? And we have a chance of maybe getting one or two more to get to that at Punchestown next week. So we’ve had a good season.

“As far as being champion trainer, and I’ve said it all along, I didn’t think we’ve got any chance. I think we’re four or five years off being where we want to be to win something like that. But I’m very proud of what we have achieved.”

He has huge respect and admiration for Mullins, whose crown he covets. While there is no doubt that his challenge has pushed the champion to levels the Closutton colossus would not have dreamed of attaining a decade ago, striving to catch him has undoubtedly made Elliott better.

“Being champion was all I ever thought of, and I still do, but we probably made a lot of wrong decisions before, running horses a little too often and in the wrong places, whereas now I’m sort of sitting back and breathing. If it happens – when it happens – we’ll enjoy it a lot more.

“I’m leading Willie down to the last weekend of the season. You’re talking about the greatest trainer of all time, being talked about with Vincent O’Brien and Tom Dreaper. And we’re leading going into the last week of the season, so it’s been an unbelievable year. And being second 14 times, as we will be after this one, just makes you want it even more.

“The first couple years he was champion trainer, he was winning a million and a half, or two million. It’s amazing, when you look at it. What we’re doing now, if Willie wasn’t around, we’d have been champion trainer every year since God was a child. So you’ve got to be proud of what we have achieved.”

Kennedy got his title two years ago and it was notable how an emotional Elliott celebrated as if it were his own. While he is closing in on a second title, on 99 winners and five ahead of O’Keeffe, it would mean the world for the No 1 to see the gaffer receive his own trophy at Punchestown.

“Maybe someday we could do it together,” says Kennedy. “Obviously, I would love Gordon to get his, whatever happens with me, but it’s a brilliant operation to be part of. I’m very lucky.”

His highlight of the year just past?

“I suppose it would have to be Wodhooh at Cheltenham. It’s very important to get a winner there and it being a Grade 1 as well, it just meant a lot. Brighterdaysahead at Aintree, I got a great kick out of that and there were a couple of days on Romeo Coolio. There’s plenty of highlights. I’m very fortunate.”

Elliott relished all those too but references the transatlantic triumphs last October that rewarded the planning, preparation and organisation of Team Elliott, and then the readiness of the horses and riders to deliver, as being particularly satisfactory.

“Every winner gives me a buzz,” Elliott clarifies. “It doesn’t have to be a big festival. It can be a midweek winner. Obviously, the Grade 1s are what you want and I think I have won 114 Grade 1s in my career so far.

“Having the five winners in America (Far Hills) is something I thought people nearly didn’t even notice. Jack rode four of them and was brilliant on Zanahiyr in the American National, and Danny (Gilligan) rode the other. Everything bounced right. It was a great day, with a lot of Irish people. It was bang up there.”

Kennedy, who celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday (Wednesday), began riding out for Elliott before he was 16.

“There can be a few bollockings and sometimes it can get heated, but if you don’t get heated, you shouldn’t be doing what we’re doing,” Elliott declares. “But I don’t think we have ever had a row in 10 or 11 years. We’ve had a few ups and downs, like any walk of life but I think we get on pretty well.

“We go away on a golf trip to switch off every year with a bunch of friends, 10 or 12 of us. We go away to Spain or Portugal golfing for two or three days. And when we go to Nashville in two weeks’ time (for Iroquois Steeplechase day), we will have fun for one day but then the next two days it’s back to work, as we bring three horses out and we are there to get winners.

“I’m training the horses. I have to do my best for the owner and if for some reason Jack wasn’t pulling his weight, I’d let him know. But thankfully that doesn’t have to happen. We get on well.”

Probably because they share that insatiable appetite for victory. It was never more in evidence from Kennedy’s perspective than when he shared his exultancy at steering Delta Work to defeat Tiger Roll in the dual National winner’s final race, the 2022 Cross-Country Chase. The people’s champion was bidding for a sixth Cheltenham Festival triumph but Delta Work reeled him in after the last.

It was like slaying Bambi but Kennedy did not care, and nor did he play it down.

“I think you kind of lose the run of yourself a bit when you get a winner there,” Kennedy explains, a bit sheepishly perhaps. “It’s an amazing place to be in the first place, but to win there is something else, and I think something just kind of takes over your body when you have a winner there.”

“That’s the way we are here,” Elliott agrees.

Thankfully, Kennedy’s run of severe injuries has slowed, though given what he does for a living, you take nothing for granted. But he has found the IHRB’s support services very beneficial since starting to avail of them.

“The last couple of years now, there’s a new facility for us in Kildare with the Irish Injured Jockeys, physios and strength and conditioning coaches and everything. That’s been a massive help, especially coming back from injuries.”

He doesn’t miss a beat when asked what his best memory of Punchestown is.

“Teahupoo. I really needed him and he got the job done and obviously I won the championship that year (2024). So that was brilliant.”

“What did you win by in the end?” Elliott asks?

“Two,” comes the response.

Talk about going down to the wire.

Whereas it was Paul Townend on Kennedy’s tail two years ago, this time it is O’Keeffe doing the chasing.

“I started back on the second or third of July in Tipperary. I think actually, I started back the same time the year I did win the championship. Darragh had a good lead but in the autumn, things were really falling right for us. The horses were flying and we were getting plenty of winners and thankfully, I ate into his lead. And thankfully, all season, the horses have been running well and we’ve been getting plenty of winners.”

Just one more week to go, and it is one of the best weeks on the calendar. Championship racing at a championship venue.

“Punchestown is a great racecourse,” Elliott enthuses. “The atmosphere is second to none. The variety of different races is something you won’t see anywhere in the world. From the banks race to the hunter chase, the bumper, the Champion Chase, the Gold Cup, the Champion Hurdle… it caters for every owner.

“It’s a festival we’re really looking forward to and we’re hoping to get a few winners at it. I’m probably going into it in a real good place, because I know I have no chance of being champion trainer. If I went into it half-a-million clear it’d be squeaky bum time and I’d probably get nailed on the last day by Willie like he did a couple of years ago (2018)!

“But now I’m going into it enjoying it. We’ve had a great season.”

 

 

GORDON ELLIOTT PUNCHESTOWN STABLE TOUR

TEAHUPOO (Ladbrokes Champion Stayers’ Hurdle)

Gordon: We’re really looking forward to this. We’ve got TEAHUPOO (going for the three-in-a-row). I’m thinking about putting some headgear on him – whether it’s blinkers or cheekpieces I’m not quite sure. And HONESTY POLICY ran a great race at Cheltenham and at Aintree. He was unlucky not to be second as he got caught up in traffic turning in.

Jack: In the main part of the race, Teahupoo probably just goes to sleep a little bit. The race kind of got away on him a bit (at Cheltenham) so the headgear would just help me in that part of the race to travel a bit better.

Gordon: I wouldn’t say he’s ungenuine. He’s just gone so laidback and the problem with them staying races is if the pace drops half-way through a race and you get out of it, it’s hard to get back into it. He loves going around Punchestown too, which is a help.

 

WODHOOH (SBK Irish EBF Mares’ Champion Hurdle)

Gordon: She goes for the Mares’ Hurdle. She’s been a superstar. She’s 10 out of 11 now over hurdles. She’s not fancy at home. When you look at her on the gallop, she just does what she has to do, but we’re lucky to have her.

Jack: Maybe later than mid-way in her races, she can hit a little bit of a flat spot and you’re kind of thinking, ‘I don’t know how well I’m going here,’ and she just takes off.

Gordon: She does it nearly every run. That’s maybe why she’s so good, because she’s so laidback.

 

LADBROKES PUNCHESTOWN GOLD CUP

Gordon: FIREFOX got a cut in the Grand National so he won’t run. We’ll see how GERRI COLOMBE is this week before we make our mind up. Unfortunately he galloped the whole way round after he fell in the National, which wasn’t ideal.

 

NOVICE HURDLERS

Gordon: EL CAIROS will definitely run in the PRL Champion Novice Hurdle. The race didn’t work out at all at Cheltenham for any of the Irish horses – it was a very funny race. It was one of them things that baffle you. If he’d have finished fifth and there were Irish horses in second, third and fourth, I’d have been pulling the hair out of my head wondering how did he run so bad. But he was the first home of the Irish and I don’t know what happened that day. The English jumped off and were gone. We were four or five lengths behind them and we didn’t get any nearer.

Jack: It’s hard to put your finger on it but I still maintain he’s better than that anyway.

Gordon: The ground will suit him too. We’ll run one of the other two. The race was over at the start for SKYLIGHT HUSTLE, got kicked at the start and ran very, very free. It was over after two hurdles. He ran clean away. Whether he’ll go for this or the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle over two and a half on Friday, we’ll see. KOKTAIL BRUT bled at Christmas but has run some very good races since and won at Fairyhouse. Like Skylight Hustle, he has the two-and-a-half-mile option as well.

We’ll have three or four in the Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle over three miles. KAZANSKY, GENERAL RISK and SPINNINGAYARN could be the three though we can’t be definite at this stage. SPINNINGAYARN ran a very good race in the Albert Bartlett to be fifth, especially with the ground the way it was there. If it’s well watered and they always do a good job with the ground at Punchestown, he could be a good spin. And he’s won at Punchestown this year.

 

NOVICE CHASERS

Gordon: We could run WESTERN FOLD in the Dooley Insurance Champion Novice Chase but I don’t know if he stays three miles. I think two and a half might really be his trip. KALA CONTI, I think she wasn’t going to be far away at Aintree when she came down at the third-last. Whether we go for this or the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase over two miles, I don’t know. I think she’d stay three miles, we could take our time and hunt away but that will be something I’ll discuss with Jack during the week, and with the owners.

Jack: She’d been kind of behind the bridle the whole way at Aintree and was just after getting going (when falling). We wouldn’t have been far away.

 

RACE & STAY AT PUNCHESTOWN INH FLAT RACE

Gordon: We’ll run two or three in it. I think CHARISMATIC KID has done enough this year but I’d say we will run LOW KICK, SOUL ASYLUM and WITH NOLIMIT. WITH NOLIMIT finished ninth at Cheltenham but he was only beaten four lengths, you know? He wasn’t beaten far.

ENDS

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Gaelic Warrior, Fact To File and Jukebox Man in mix for Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup as Punchestown Festival Grade 1 entries for are released
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William Hill Champion Chase shaping up to be a cracker with Il Etait Temps, Marine Nationale and Majborough among entrants
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Queen of the Turf Lossiemouth to take on allcomers in Boodles Champion Hurdle
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MEDIA RELEASE 13TH APRIL 2026: Gaelic Warrior, Lossiemouth and Il Etait Temps are among a mouth-watering cast of equine luminaries bidding to put a glorious full stop on another epic jumps season at the Punchestown Festival. Entries for the dozen Grade 1 contests held during the traditional high-powered conclusion to the Irish campaign have been unveiled this morning and the customary elite nature of their composition is maintained.Tomorrow marks the two-week warning for the commencement of a guaranteed rollercoaster of activity and emotion, as the cream of the crop in Ireland and Britain, with a sprinkling of French involvement too, vie for a share of the record-breaking total prize fund of €3,600,000 on offer from Tuesday 28th April to Saturday 2nd May.

As ever, this carnival provides something for everyone and if there will be a party taking place during the week, the action promises the most intense championship racing.
There is the added ingredient too of the possibility, at least, of Willie Mullins’ 18-year run as champion trainer on his native shore coming to an end, as Gordon Elliott leads the race in pursuit of his maiden title. The Closutton guru remains hot favourite to secure his 20th crown in total, to go with his pair of British championships, with the aforementioned Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase heroes in the mix to go to war on his behalf.

Gaelic Warrior is among 14 entries in the LADBROKES PUNCHESTOWN GOLD CUP, where two horses that have already beaten him this year, stablemate and Irish Gold Cup conqueror Fact To File, and Ladbrokes King George VI Chase winner The Jukebox Man could oppose.
Lossiemouth is one of a dozen considering participation in the BOODLES CHAMPION HURDLE, with old rival and Thursday’s Aintree Hurdle victress Brighterdaysahead in their midst, while Il Etait Temps has a select group of seven high-class opponents potentially looking to take his scalp in the WILLIAM HILL CHAMPION CHASE, which is shaping up to get the festival off to an explosive start as Marine Nationale and Majborough will be expected to line up along with Energumene and Captain Guinness.

Long-time sparring partners, Robcour duo, Bob Olinger and Teahupoo, are in the mix along with 16 other horses for the LADBROKES CHAMPION STAYERS’ HURDLE. Cheltenham/Aintree hero Home By The Lee has been given the option of attempting a unique treble but trainer Joseph O’Brien reports the bid to be unlikely. The roll call remains a competitive one, however, as is typical of the sumptuous feast served up throughout the week.
O’Brien doesn’t contend for champion honours in this sphere, given he trains only 25 or so jumps horses at his predominantly flat operation on Carriganóg Hill, yet his percentage return is hugely impressive at the highest level and only three trainers in Ireland and Britain have trained more individual Grade 1 winners this season – Mullins, Elliott and Nicky Henderson. He will be trying to add to that stunning return, while Elliott and Henry de Bromhead are among others with contenders that are accustomed to big-race success at the famed Co Kildare venue described by Mullins as a “an amphitheatre of racing”.

There is the prospect of a vibrant British representation too, buoyed by last year’s successes at the Punchestown Festival and their improved results on home territory also. Dan Skelton, Ben Pauling, Nicky Henderson, Harry Derham, Paul Nicholls, Olly Murphy and Jeremy Scott are just some of the cross-channel crew eyeing a journey across the Irish Sea.
Meanwhile, Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm have made a couple of entries from their French base.
But as befitting a year when more trainers have elbowed their way into the big time, such as Andy Slattery, Colm Murphy, Emmet Mullins and Noel Meade, the fare is open and there are countless operations dreaming of glory.
Patrick Harty’s earlier memories of racing revolve around the Punchestown Festival. Now that he is joint trainer on the Curragh-based yard with his father Eddie, he is relishing the prospect of being a protagonist on the big stage.
“We are delighted to have a couple of entries in the Grade 1s at Punchestown,” Harty Jnr says.
“The week at Punchestown is a brilliant race week and we’re really excited. As a Kildare man, I have been going for years and taking days off from school. It was always a great meeting and to have horses running in some of the top races and the best races is extremely exciting.
“I would absolutely love to win one of the races I was chasing as a kid, along with the stars of the time, and it would be very cool to train a star of this time.”

LADBROKES PUNCHESTOWN GOLD CUP
(Wednesday, April 29th – 14 entries)

Gaelic Warrior (Willie Mullins) is the marquee name among the 14 entries for the LADBROKES PUNCHESTOWN GOLD CUP, following his effortless triumph at Prestbury Park but he won’t have it all his own way and indeed, we could have another pulsating renewal to live up to recent offerings. Gaelic Warrior’s Cheltenham predecessor, Inothewayurthinkin (Gavin Cromwell) could line up after posting his best performance of the current campaign to date when staying on to be third last month, while another JP McManus-owned gelding, Fact To File was a wide-margin winner over his stablemate in the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival in February.
The Jukebox Man also finished in front of Gaelic Warrior this year, by the tiny margin of two noses, but that earned Ben Pauling’s stable star the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase on St Stephen’s Day.
While not involved at the business end in Cheltenham, a reason has been unearthed and Pauling is leaning towards making to trip to Ireland if his charge shows the right signs after a minor wind procedure.
“He was a bit stiff and sore after the Gold Cup and there was a lot didn’t go our way in the race so we’ve a lot to find. But he’s been at that level before and hopefully he can find that again,” Pauling reports.
“He’s had a little tinkle on his wind – he had a little soft palate issue we had to sort out. But if he shows the form I want him to show leading up to the race, we’ll go over and give it another crack. He’s a horse that I know has got the ability to be in these races. He’s proven it already and there’s no taking away from how impressive Gaelic Warrior was but we’ve got to try serve it up to him.
“He didn’t have an overly hard race at Cheltenham because he probably wasn’t able to put it in. We all know the Gold Cup can leave a dent in horses and he probably hasn’t had that dent put in him. And after running in a Gold Cup, we don’t need to worry about fitness. So long as he’s sound and well and 100%, we’ll be there.”

WILLIAM HILL CHAMPION CHASE
(Tuesday, April 28th – 8 entries)
Quality is the watchword in the WILLIAM HILL CHAMPION CHASE too with winners of the three of the last five renewals and the last five Queen Mothers at Cheltenham, it has the potential to be one of the greatest renewals in recent memory and certainly will get the Punchestown started with a bang.
Energumene (Willie Mullins) and Captain Guinness (Henry de Bromhead) have moved into veteran status now but remain enthusiastic about their jobs, as the former proved most recently at Fairyhouse.
Marine Nationale thrilled a huge crowd when bolting up in the race 12 months ago, following up from a rousing victory at Cheltenham and replicating Energumene’s double feats of 2022-23.
Barry Connell’s brilliant chaser missed Prestbury Park in March due to a slight knock but is on course to defend his domestic crown with Il Etait Temps, who benefited from a consummately patient ride by Paul Townend to score at Cheltenham, the chief rivaland thus in with a chance of joining the recent double winners.
Another Mullins trainee, four-time Grade 1 winner Majborough, would be a very interesting participant given his tendency to mix the sublime with the ridiculous, while Solness (Joseph O’Brien), himself a triple top-flight victor over two miles, would ensure a true-run affair coming back from losing by just a neck to Grey Dawning over 2m5f in the Melling Chase at Aintree.
“Of the horses that ran at Aintree, Solness is the only one that could continue to Punchestown,” O’Brien comments.
“He ran a great race at Aintree and has had another great season. He would be going back down to two miles but it will all depend on how we feel he recovers from Saturday and we will make a call on that next week.”

BOODLES CHAMPION HURDLE
(Friday, May 1st – 12 entries)
There will be a new name on the roll of honour this year with the winner of the last three renewals, State Man, sidelined with the season still in its infancy.
It was State Man’s primacy that restricted Lossiemouth (Willie Mullins) to mares company but she flourished at Cheltenham, turning the tables on Brighterdaysahead, who had held the upper hand in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown in February.
Gordon Elliott’s mare has since won the Aintree Hurdle back over two and a half miles with a game performance, while Lossiemouth has enjoyed some easy time since Cheltenham.
Another horse of the fair sex, Golden Ace is on the list too, having been State Man’s nearest challenger 12 months ago. It was Jeremy Scott’s admirable charge that picked up the pieces when State Man came a cropper at the last in the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle prior to that.
Jonjo and AJ O’Neill enjoyed success at the Punchestown Festival last year with Petit Tonnerre but are aiming higher with Wilful, who was runner-up in the Killashee Hotel Handicap Hurdle 12 months ago but has improved in leaps and bounds since, most recently running out a three-length winner of the William Hill County Hurdle at Cheltenham.
“Wilful is our only Grade 1 entry at Punchestown,” says AJ. “ It was a cracking performance from him at Cheltenham in the County. We were absolutely delighted with him. He’s a horse that has really progressed through the season and kept improving and he has come out of Cheltenham well.
“He’s put in really strong performances in handicaps at Cheltenham and Ascot, when winning, and also at Windsor during their winter festival, so he’s had a really good season and it would be great to see him step up in grade so we will keep an eye on it and make a bit of a plan from there.”

LADBROKES CHAMPION STAYERS’ HURDLE
(Thursday, April 30th – 18 entries)
Although Home By The Lee is reported by trainer Joseph O’Brien to be slated for a trip to Auteuil after carrying out the Cheltenham/Aintree double on Saturday, he has been given the option of bidding for the major festival treble that another 11-year-old, Sire Du Berlais, only failed to record by three-quarters of a length in 2023. The troupe of potentials remains of the highest calibre, with a plethora of Grade 1 winners eyeing up an opportunity to add to their tallies.
Bob Olinger and Teahupoo were Stayers’ Hurdle victors at Cheltenham in 2025 and 2024 respectively for Robcour and while the former ran another cracker last March in third, the latter was unusuallyuncompetitive.
Punchestown is a happy hunting ground however, and were he to score in the LADBROKES CHAMPION STAYERS’ HURDLE on Thursday, he would enter the Pantheon of the racetrack’s greats by emulating Klassical Dream as a three-in-a-row kingpin (2021-23). Quevega retains the record with her four consecutive triumphs from 2010-14.
As well as entering Bob Olinger, Henry de Bromhead has also included two other Robcour representatives, Hiddenvalley Lake and Air Of Entitlement, while Teahupoo’s handler, Gordon Elliott has put Honesty Policy into the mix.

PRL CHAMPION NOVICE HURDLE
(Tuesday, April 28th – 22 entries)
El Cairos was the first Irish-trained horse home in fifth in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and could well be a different proposition back at Punchestown with more improvement in the tank and a runner-up finish in the JP & M Doyle INH Flat Race last year in the memory bank.
The winner of that contest, Baron Noir, also finished just ahead of El Cairos at Cheltenham and it is no surprise that Alan King has a return to the Punchestown Festival in the diary for the Noel Fehily Racing Syndicate-owned son of Vadamos.
Gordon Elliott, who trains El Cairos, also has an interesting contenders in Skylight Hustle, who fell in the Turners at Cheltenham after racing keenly going up in trip from her Grade 1 mares’ triumph at Leopardstown, and Koktail Brut, who bounced back from being down the field at Prestbury Park to win at Grade 2 level by almost 10 lengths at Fairyhouse.
The runner-up on that occasion was Ebony King, and Andy Slattery – who is red hot at present – provides his charge with an opportunity to reoppose.
Le Labo has a number of entries and would be included in any calculations were he to turn up here. After unseating John Gleeson on debut over hurdles at Thurles, the Mount Nelson bay fell when clear at the last in a competitive maiden at Cork subsequently. He put it all together last time when rewarding Joseph O’Brien for his ambition to battle to a neck victory in a Naas Grade 3 level early last month.
“Le Labo will definitely go in one of the Grade 1 novice hurdles,” O’Brien confirms. “He was gutsy when winning at Naas, so the next logical step is to go up to the next level with him.”

DOOLEY INSURANCE GROUP CHAMPION NOVICE CHASE
(Tuesday, April 28th – 19 entries)
This has attracted a lip-smacking crop of staying novice chasers with Willie Mullins including the 1-2 from Cheltenham, Kitzbuhel and Final Demand, as well as Kappa Jy Pyke, a winner of the Grade 3 Sky Bet Super Sub Novice Chase at Punchestown in January, who finished second in the Grade 1 WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse.
Fleur In The Park provided in-form trainer, Any Slattery and jockey Cian Quirke with a first Grade 1 by scoring in that Fairyhouse feature and could well have a tilt at securing a lucrative and notable double.
Emmet Mullins has given Irish Grand National hero, Soldier In Milan the option, while Henry de Bromhead includes his brilliant mare The Big Westerner, who has not been seen since winning a Grade 2 mares’ chase at Limerick over Christmas and missed an intended Cheltenham engagement due to her preference for soft ground.

CHANNOR REAL ESTATE GROUP NOVICE HURDLE
(Wednesday, April 29th – 32 entries)
The spread of Grade 1-winning trainers has been a notable aspect of the Irish jumps season and Zanooshis another heartwarming story, having provided Colm Murphy with his first elite success since returning to the training ranks in the Honeysuckle Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Fairyhouse. In the process, the Winning Ways Reunion Syndicate’s daughter of Harzand was also providing jockey, Brian Hayes with his maiden Grade 1 triumph.
It was a fifth straight victory for this clearly progressive mare and it is likely that ground conditions will dictate whether she takes in this three-mile examination or the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle on Friday.
Willie Mullins is mob-handed, with 11 of the 32 entrants, and dual Grade 1 winner Doctor Steinberg would be on a retrieval mission, having faded when travelling very keenly in the Albert Bartlett Hurdle.
There are five cross-channel entrants, including Johnny’s Jury, who won at Cheltenham for Jamie Snowden, and No Drama This End, from the Paul Nicholls yard.
Harry Derham experienced Punchestown Festival success in 2025 when Ascending Lark galloped to victory in the Killashee Hotel Handicap Hurdle and the talented young conditioner will be back with the Isaac Souede/Simon Munir-owned Le Frimeur, who like Zanoosh, has the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle as a potential alternative.
“Le Frimeur had a setback after he won in the autumn and was good at Newbury. He has been put in the two races. That obviously won’t be a decision just for me. There are some very experienced people in the Double Green team so I would imagine there will be conversations closer to the time.
“He’ll be kept in both and I will just try to prepare the horse in the best possible condition for Punchestown week. I’ll obviously give my view but you have to respect there’s an enormous amount of experience in the team and we’ll make the decision closer to the time.”

RACE & STAY AT PUNCHESTOWN CHAMPION INH FLAT RACE
(Wednesday, April 29th – 19 entries)
Bambino Fever (2025), A Dream To Share (2023), Facile Vega (2022), Fayonagh (2017), Champagne Fever (2012) and Cousin Vinny (2008) completed the Cheltenham/Punchestown double in the past and that is the territory The Mourne Rambler will enter if prevailing for Noel Meade, although flat champion jockey, Colin Keane will not be eligible to do the steering in the RACE & STAY AT PUNCHESTOWN CHAMPION INH FLAT RACE.
The Mourne Rambler was a convincing winner of the Cheltenham Champion Bumper when Love Sign D’aunou was favourite, but the Mullins charge never got involved, having sluiced home to a 24-length triumph on debut on heavy ground in Naas in January.
Gordon Elliott has enjoyed plenty of bumper success during the current campaign and Charismatic Kid, bought for Gigginstown House Stud after winning for trainer Colm Ryan at Navan in December, could be on the upgrade after following up a close third at Dublin Racing Festival with an 11-length victory at Fairyhouse

BARBERSTOWN CASTLE NOVICE CHASE
(Thursday, April 30th – 13 entries)
Racing lovers will not want to miss this if Willie Mullins trainees, Kargese and Kopek Des Bordes do battle once more after a thrilling contest in the Arkle in which the jumping accuracy of Kenny Alexander’s mare under Danny Mullins down the stretch moved the dial in her favour.
Kargese was a high-class hurdler too, and finished third in last year’s Boodles Champion Hurdle, just six lengths behind the dominant State Man, but has improved over fences.
Kopek Des Bordes was victorious in last year’s Supreme at Cheltenham and his endeavours in defeat last month were notable given that he had raced only once over fences prior to that, due to an injury setback.
It is reasonable to expect the McCarthy family’s pride and joy to improve for his first run in almost four months though in truth, he did very little wrong in the jumping department before making a significant error at the last when still travelling strongly.
Stencil would be a fascinating contestant for the French-based training duo, Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm but the JP McManus-owned five-year-old has disappointed since winning at Chepstow in January, racing very keenly in the Jack Richards at Cheltenham and then being pulled up when near the top of the market in the Red Rum at Aintree.
Eddie and Patrick Harty rolled the dice with Irish Panther in the Champion Chase at Cheltenham, and the nine-year-old justified that decision by looking sure to make the frame, only to make an uncharacteristic shuddering error at the last.
A product of the late Edward O’Grady, Irish Panther did connections proud and will now revert to novice company in pursuit of a coveted Grade 1, having been just denied by Romeo Coolio over 2m1f at Leopardstown on St Stephen’s Day.
“Irish Panther has come out of Cheltenham very well,” reports Patrick Harty. “We were delighted with his run for the most part in the Champion Chase, bar that bad mistake at the last, where he just walked through it and did well to stand up. He would have been in the first four – possibly second – but almost definitely third or firth. So we’re delighted with that. It gives us plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
“We are stepping back now into novice company at Punchestown, which is a very fair track at which the best horse usually wins. He has to take on the first two from the Arkle in all likelihood, but we have a lot of belief in our horse. He’s very fast, he’s very talented and he jumps great and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

ALANNA HOMES CHAMPION NOVICE HURDLE
(Friday, May 1st – 31 entries)
King Rasko Grey is the one to beat among this lengthy catalogue of talented operators at the intermediate trip, the gelding owned by Audrey Turley and trained by Willie Mullins building on the promise he had shown when third at the Dublin Racing Festival over 2m, by prevailing in the Turners at Cheltenham.
Stablemate He’s On Fire would be one to note if lining up, as a late starter this term that has created a major impression by backing up a 20-length maiden hurdle victory at Carlisle in February with a Grade 2 success by a dozen lengths at Fairyhouse.
Mullins might stew over the participation of Doctor Steinberg also, given how hard he pulled in the Albert Bartlett on his first attempt at 3m. He was a Grade 1 winner by eight lengths over 2m5f at the DRF despite that over-exuberance.
As mentioned already, this would be an option for Zanoosh also, with two and a half miles on soft ground right up her ally as evidenced when winning the Grade 1 Honeysuckle at Fairyhouse, but also proving her stamina over three miles, which is why the Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle is being considered by trainer, Colm Murphy.
After some good runs in defeat, Barley Lane got off the mark over hurdles at Down Royal last month and Eddie and Patrick Harty believe the time is right to try find out what the five-year-old’s level might be.
“We were very happy with how he won at Down Royal on St Patrick’s Day,” says Patrick Harty. “It was a big step forward on his two previous efforts. He’s a horse with a lot of promise, a lot of potential and we’re quite interested to run him in a Grade 1, to see how he copes with the higher tempo against better horses than he has previously encountered and it will help us decide what we do going forward.”
This is among the options for Le Frimeur (Harry Derham) and Le Labo (Joseph O’Brien), as mentioned by both trainers above.

SBK IRISH EBF MARES’ CHAMPION HURDLE
(Saturday, May 2nd – 10 entries)
Lossiemouth (Willie Mullins) heads the entries herealong with old rival Brighterdaysahead (Gordon Elliott) but they would be expected to participate in the Boodles Champion Hurdle if drawing the curtain down on their campaigns at the Punchestown Festival.
Golden Ace (Jeremy Scott) could take this in, however, having run well in defeat in the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle and the Aintree Hurdle. She showed her liking for the course when the nearest challenger to State Man in the 2025 Boodles Champion Hurdle.
Wodhooh would be a tough nut to crack though, as Elliott’s saviour at the last two Cheltenham festivals, most recently in the Mares Hurdle. The Meath mancould be in need of the prize money too in his bid to secure a first championship title.

BALLYMORE CHAMPION FOUR-YEAR-OLD HURDLE
(Saturday, May 2nd – 22 entries)
The curtain comes down on the Grade 1 fare with the juvenile hurdlers. Apolon De Charnie will attemptconfirm his dominance of the division after winning in the Triumph Hurdle in his first run since joining the Mullins brigade from France and theoretically, should improve for that experience.
Mange Tout has been held in high esteem at Cullentra House for some time and confirmed why when holding off a rallying Selma De Vary in the Grade 1 Boodles Anniversary 4YO Hurdle at Aintree on Thursday.
Bartholomew created a strong impression when scoring by 10 lengths in his maiden hurdle at Cork last week, while the George/Zetterholm tandem could ship Noire Wulf, who won at Compiegne the same day.
One Horse Town (Harry Derham) is a likely participant. He was winning for the fourth successive time in a busy campaign when delivering a Grade 2 at Prestbury Park last November. He then placed in three subsequent top-class juvenile affairs subsequently before finishing down the field in the Triumph.
“One Horse Town had a little break after Cheltenham,” Derham reveals. “He’s had a great season, wasn’t good enough at Cheltenham, but he deserves his place in the line-up.
“He’s been a really good fun horse for his owners this season and he’ll go there and take his chance. We’re not going under any illusions but he’s been a really tough, hardy juvenile and we’ll go and hope he runs a nice race.”