There are many Punchestown Festival bankers for horse racing fans to get stuck into this week as the big 5-day meeting runs from Tuesday to Saturday. It’s also no shock that most of the big Punchestown bankers are trained by Willie Mullins, so let’s take a look.
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When is the 2023 Punchestown Festival?
📅Time/Date: Tuesday 25th April – Saturday 29th April
🏇Racecourse: Punchestown
📺 TV: Racing TV
Punchestown Festival Banker Bets for This Week
The UK and Irish bookmakers can expect a wave of doubles, trebles and accas across the 5-day Punchestown Festival – with many star names that we saw run well at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival.
Tuesday 25th April 2023
FACILE VEGA: (4:15: KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle)
Won the bumper at this meeting last season to add to his Cheltenham Festival Champion Bumper win. Switched to hurdles this season and this Willie Mullins runner landed the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown back in December.
He flopped at Dublin Racing Festival after racing too free but managed to bounce back to form when a gallant second in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. That day, he had two of his biggest rivals for this race – Diverge and Il Etait Temps – behind so if running to that level here will be hard to beat.
ENERGUMENE: (5:25: William Hill Champion Chase)
Another Willie Mullins hot-pot that will be hard to defeat on the opening day. He’s the current and two-time Champion Chaser at the Cheltenham Festival, plus also won this race 12 months ago. He beat his stablemate Chacun Pour Soi by 8 1/2 lengths that day and is so far 2-from-2 at Punchestown.
Dublin Chase winner Gentleman De Mee looks his biggest threat, but Energumene is rated 9lbs higher and will head into the race having won 9 of his 11 chase starts. It will be a shock if he’s not winning again.
Wednesday 26th April 2023
GALOPIN DES CHAMPS: (5:55: Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup)
The impressive Cheltenham Gold Cup winner that is looking for his second Punchestown Festival win. He won the Irish Mirror Novice Hurdle in 2021 and has since made the switch to fences in his stride.
Galopin Des Champs has won 6 of his 7 starts of the bigger obstacles, with his only blot coming with that famous last-fence fall in the Turners Novices’ Chase in 2022. This season he’s won the John Durkan and Irish Gold Cup too, plus with this main danger Bravemansgame 7 lengths back at Cheltenham last time out has already beaten this year’s King George winner.
He’s rated 180, which is 8lbs higher than Bravemansgame, so if running to form will be yet another Willie Mullins Punchestown Festival banker that punters will latch onto.
A DREAM TO SHARE: (6:30: Race & Stay At Punchestown Champion I.N.H Flat Race)
Promising bumper horse that leading owner JP McManus snapped up before the Cheltenham Festival. That purchase proved to be a shrewd move as he took the Champion Bumper in great fashion and will head to Punchestown now 4-from-4.
His main asset for this well-bred flat horse is his decent turn-of-foot and so this John E Kiely runner is expected to be hard to beat again here before progressing over hurdles next season.
Thursday 27th April 2023
EL FABIOLO: (6:35: Barberstown Castle Novice Chase)
It’s Willie Mullins again folks as his next Punchestown Festival banker is this season’s Arkle Chase winner. He powered home to beat the useful Jonbon by 5 1/2 lengths that day and with the runner-up franking the form to win at Aintree recently, then he’s going to be hard to beat again.
That Arkle win made it 3-from-3 over fences for this exciting 6 year-old, plus he won at this meeting 12 months ago when winning the International Novice Hurdle. He’ll be expected to take this before taking on the big boys next year in either the Champion Chase or Ryanair Chase.
Friday 28th April 2023
STATE MAN: (5:25 Paddy Power Champion Hurdle)
State Man won the Irish Champion Hurdle in great fashion at Leopardstown back in February but ran into Constitution Hill at the Cheltenham Festival.
He still managed to run the superstar Nicky Henderson runner to 9 lengths that day in the Champion Hurdle but with no CH this time, he’ll be all the rage to get back to winning ways. State Man has won 6 of his last 7 hurdles starts and was an easy winner at this meeting last year when taking the Champion Novice Hurdle.
Saturday 29th April 2023
LOSSIEMOUTH: (5:00 Ballymore Champion Four Year Old Hurdle)
This Willie Mullins-trained grey mare powered home in the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival last month and is now 4-from-5 over hurdles. Her only blip came in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival in February but didn’t get the best of rides that day from Paul Townend.
The Gold Cup-winning jockey made amends though last time – beating stablemate Gala Marceau by 2 1/4 lengths and will be popular to uphold that form, especially getting a handy 7lbs from the males in the race.
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