punchestown festival

I like those 2 JP ones as well,could be a shortie day as I think Un De Sceaux will manage the drop back in trip today.

Couldn't have Disko at around evens.

O Grady's looks to have an excellent chance in the handicap hurdle. Good win on the flat lto and should love the ground.Won as he liked @ Killarney last summer.

I think God's Own and Fox Norton will give Un De Sceaux plenty of it back over 2 miles on decent ground. Disko looks short for me also but a very competitve race. Martin's or Hughes' might beat him.

i also think fox norton will go close newapproach..his jumping at aintree was spot on..i just think he may be better at further?

Gl today Tony, Thrown a few quid at Miles To Memphis, Valdieu, Gods Own & Acapella Bourgeois for a interest.

Going shortly,so a few for me today as follows,
Enniskillen.
Pingshou.
Gods Own.
A Genie In A Bottle.
Good Luck All.

need the hobbs horse in last for a decent day...but early doors took a big chunk

The reason a lot of women stray is because they get a ride similar to the ride a horse got in the Grade 1 nov chase.Roll on the Galway Plate.

Anyone know the name of the commentator of the last race,very strange accent.

Johnny Burke NH Jockey.

lovely to see not only the great sprinter sacre yesterday but a 28 years young klairon davis also who brought back happy memories.

i liked burkes commentery...

4.55 presenting percy @11/4
i know its a grade 1 but the way this one won at the festival gives me reason to think he can go close in this company..although tbh i thought 4/1 was more like the price?
6.05 fayonagh @2/1 really cannot be opposed after the festival run..

Can't be any worse today than yesterday personally,I'm not mad about backing horses that had hard races at Cheltenham but I can't oppose Sizing John or Fayonagh as I think they have the class to rise above it.

Going to chance Al Boum Photo against the two favs and Bluegrass Princess in the finale.

GLTA.

Nice evenings racing coming up,bit wary with the goodish ground though.

3.40 Crossed My Mind ew @ around 9/1.
Wide open handicap and one for minimum stakes but this was impressive albeit a Wexford maiden,hopeful choice to keep the sponsors money in their own pocket.
4.20 Minella till Dawn @ 11/4
Not liking Battleford had me looking for an alternative, MTD looked booked for 2nd til falling at the last in a classy race last time,probablywill want this run at a good pace as he looks to have just the one gear.
4.55 Penhill @ 5/2
Another with minimum stakes,think it should hold Monalee again,jumped a lot better at Cheltenham but not convinced entirely with that yet,just hopeful.
5.30 Sizing John @ Evens
Maybe not giving him enough credit for the gold cup,certainly is the form horse.
6.05 Fayonagh @ 2/1
All her form is starting to stack up,horses beaten a long way at Naas and Fairyhouse are getting races or going close, Cheltenham proves she acts on the ground,have to be with her tl beaten. Anything that has come out of Poli Roi's Navan race has been well beaten,a poor race though won in fine manner. C'mon girl,no moodies today!
7.15 Minutestomidnight @ 11/4
Maybe there were excuses for Mystic Theatre at Naas but her body language was shocking and she emptied very quickly,i would certainly prefer Bluegrass Princess of the two this evening,she looked very honest in that race and a live danger.Though soft and at Wexford Minutestomidnight slammed Half the Odds(who won a fair bumper last week),she did it very well and hoping she is on the higher scale of the could be anything maxim.

Best of luck with yours.

Going against most on here,I fancy Outlander e/w @ 10/1 on here,Djakadam will make his usual mistake at some stage,John looked the business @ Cheltenham make no mistake but Outlander ran no sort of race.Coneygree needs softer ground imo plus its going to be hard making all after been out for so long.John is the pick on form,Outlander is the value.

a great days racing i thought la bella vida in the first and tin soldier in a very hot grade one would both run better than the 20/1 on offer suggests both i think will be suited by the step up in trips,in the gold cup i thought djakadam would get his day in the sun at last.

On form Fayonagh should be the one but she had to run such a remarkable race at Cheltenham to win that I think it would have been better to give her a quiet time. Running her in this race is all about the championship and as Gordon's running two he must think he needs the insurance. I'm going for Poli Roi who won impressively under hands and heels first time out. Gigginstown horses in grade 1 bumpers have to be of interest.

Desperate results so far,may not have won but thought Ruby had Penhill way too far back there.

Penhill is a tricky customer though even though he has won many times. I thought they were quickening a long way out. Winner on merit I thought.
Cest jersey was a bet IR  given the way he was jumping

Probably Macrocky.

Terrific race the gold cup,mistkes cost Djakadam but the most unlikely "hero" is surely Robbie Power,what a way things have turned around for him,and the type of fella that deserves it.

Rte coverage is f cringeworthy,how much backslapping can they f do ffs
Looked a slow run race to me but apparently its the best raceever seen

It was a fantastic race, arguably race of the season.

Thought it was a brilliant race, had Coneygree met the 2nd last better i think he could have hung on but really enjoyed that

When you look at the big crowds and full stands obviously a very good atmosphere.
Is punchestown week better than Cheltenham
Cost is a big issue about visiting Cheltenham.
Going to punchestown cheaper to enter. Cheaper hotels. No flights or ferry.

Is punchestown week better than Cheltenham


Not even close

Reason I ask premier I'd say punchestown is a grand less than Cheltenham.
I've done Cheltenham week but only 1 day at punchestown

Aye it's mental the price for the week in Cheltenham (hotels etc...), still it's dear enough in Dublin for a hotel room these days at any time and i would imagine Naas is the same race week. Personally i think Punchestown loses out as it's the last of the 3 big spring festivals and a lot of horses cannot produce the same performances as at the other 2 festivals

Fairyhouse is in the shadow of punchestown I think. And aintree  is too close to Cheltenham and it's all about 1 race

Anyone want tickets for tomorrow for free,I have 2 and will leave them in Sec office for anyone that wants them, under their username on here.

Fair play Workrider.

Enjoyed the racing today with the gold cup and i thought a very good performance from Fayonagh.
Looks some impossible races tomorrow other than the 3 shorties.

Terrible card tomorrow Pa,a minefield,I honesty thought it was one of the best races I ever saw at Punchestown even though my fella was pulled up.Anyone of the 3 could have won it,the mare is something else,could remain unbeaten for a longtime imo.Off to bed had a long day and the legs ain't what they used to be....

ive been to all 4 meetings several times..best by far is aintree,thur fri and sat. i wouldnt argue with anyone that wants to queue for the toilets and climb them steps constantly at cheltenham,fair play to you. but for a good  experience of top class nh horses and a good social event you wont beat aintree.

Happened to go yesterday and couldn't believe how small the crowd was. In all honesty Punchestown isn't in the same parish as the real festivals, particularly Cheltenham. Everything about the place is second rate, the facilities are third world in reality. Having two different grounds on the hurdles tracks defies belief and just about sums up Irish racing. Simon Claisse was there yesterday, I'd say he was having a good laugh at the state of the place.
It doesn't say much for the meeting when they have to give away thousands of freebies in order to create some sort of atmosphere. I met a chap there who  works for one of today's sponsors, he had 200 tickets in his pocket and he couldn't get rid of them.
It's 100 stg to get into Cheltenham on Gold Cup day and it's free to get into Punchestown on their corresponding day, and in all honesty those prices are about right.

all three festivals are great in there own ways they are all different,i have been going to both aintree and cheltenham each year since 1981,its been great to see the way aintree has come on in those years i remember standing on the steps almost alone watching the two best staying chasers of there time kildimo and dessie race.this is my first visit since 1999 to punchestown and from what i have seen whats not to like about the place so what if its not mobbed out everywhere and you cant get to the toilet or get a drink ?something that has surprised me is how much i have found the 340 start times have suited me ,i must admit sat in my house in england i thought it was a pain having such great racing at such times however where your here its works and works very well,anybody who was there yesterday and did not think it was anything but superb needs to find another hobby.

It's such a common theme nowadays that all festivals, bar a couple , have to be bigged up with thousands of free tickets. There has always been the impression that Punchestown is always "end of season" and vulnerable to ground and busy campaigns and you are somehow not the real enthusiast if you don't just LOVE it. Fact is, not many people go racing any more and its almost like the death of our main streets in rural Ireland-there seems no way to halt what is really globalisation at a local level-JP, Giggy, WPM are the Tesco's and Dunne's of this world and it will be decades before any new  paradigm emerges amongst a populace that was largely bankrupted. Jimeen's post was a bit sad although leavened a little by foxy.

Didn't know you were over Foxy,might see you there either today or tomorrow.Having been to Cheltenham last week I have to agree with Jimeen re facilities ,Punchestown needs modernising and quick.That was one fantastic race yesterday,nip and tuck between 3 smashing horses,anyone of them could have won it,each made a hash of the last three fences,the worst been Goneygrees second last fence blunder,everyone of them showed a will to win and none of them shirked  it.

Anyone want those tickets for today ?

Foxy , I will tell you exactly what's not to like about the place, horses gone over the top or not being a huge conundrum for any punter. Ground that isn't uniform, how can the ground for the ist two races be completely different even though they are both over hurdles and it hasn't rained in between. And as for the facilities, a disgrace doesn't even do the description justice.
Much like the Curragh , our headquarters are on par with normal gaffe meetings in Britain.
The racing might have been exciting and there were some good horses on show , but there were plenty who didn't perform to their best, so in my book it's a meeting with rubbish facilities and god knows what way your horse might run.

jimeen i go racing in the uk most days believe me national hunt racing in ireland is on a different level in every way,agree about the currugh however.

workrider

just here for two days this year did not realise how much i would enjoy this festival will do longer next year,fly back at 7 tonight so wont be going racing spending the afternoon in dublin back over for thurles in the autumn.

Talking about freebies always seems to be loads knocking about for Punchestown is right but one meeting i have never seen one for is Galway Festival.I heard the management could declare the crowd a hour before the 1st race yesterday.

The investment Mr Ricci has made seems to be paying off.Is he even at the meeting?

tomorrow and saturday..tbf he has had runners at the festival and winners..

So long as he can justify the expenditure...Would be hard for me..

Himself and Bob Diamond (yet) are lucky not to be serving time.

Low level administrators have served time for rigging the Libor rate but the recent BBC Panaorma program provided substantial proof that the orders came from the top of Barclays and perhaps even the central bank.

Conversely to the admins in the cage Ricci pocketed £44 million in 2010 in shares and bonuses from Barclays, you obviously need to be some way sharp to get to the position in life he has but

I have only experience of hearing him converse about racing and he comes across as a boasting plank.

i posted about it the week that it happend..ricci trouserd 40m as a golden handshake..and none of the bosses paid any penaltys..

Who let you back on here? I thought you were gone to the cage

You also said Brexit was a great result for the working class Brit, consumer prices are already rising with wages stagnating.

The most ignorant vote ever passed by an electorate from a developed economy in my view.

It's one of the most basic economic theories - purchasing power parity theory that a depreciated currency will result in delayed inflation.

You'll be out canvassing for Jerry

Wages were stagnating for the last 5 years particulary in the public sector not even getting anywhere nesr even the low rate of inflation.
Prices are rising but not very much,the rob is in Ireland where like for like they are generally priced 20% plus.

Inflation in Ireland is 0.5% for the year until February 2017, in the UK inflation for month of February 2.3%.

Whether it is vat,currency,shipping or whatever there is no excuse for the difference between prices for the same goods between the two countries,the UK is a fair bit cheaper after converting in most cases for the same product.

Inflation is on many things,but just on foodstuff bring up tesco uk to tesco ie,that is like for like,convert the pound/euro and who is getting f*cked?

keen leader  • December 11, 2013 7:17 PM GMT 
the single biggest issue troubling irish jumps racings at the moment is the concentration of ownership, all other areas are effected as a result including field sizes and perceived lack of competition. once upon a time jumps racing was supposed to be the arena for the small time owner to dream of big success, the concentration of ownership at the moment is diluting the possibility of that dream. rather than just throwing out an opinion, I would rather deal in raw facts.
let us compare the past and the present.....randomly I have decided to compare the irish jump racing and the winning owners for (1) the month of November 1993, and (2) November 2013.

In 1993 when the likes of Danoli, Merry Gale and Flashing Steel were in the winners enclosure....
......well 72 jumps races in the month
.......65 individual winning owners........just one owner, tony o reilly had 3 winners, 5 others had a brace of winners.....and for the record McManus had one winner that month.

fast forward to November 2013
234 jump races....6 owners between them accounted for 45 of those winners.
namely...gigs 12, McManus 12, ricci 8, wylie 5, potts 4, Connell 4.
....without having the time to check, of those 45 wins I would guess no more than 10 were handicaps(mostly mcm hcappers).

jump fans may not like it, but the game has changed, and you will have to put up with the side effects, possibly until some of these owners either lose interest or die off. the sight of 7 horses in the same silks touring in a maiden hurdle last Saturday was embarrassing to the sport that was once framed as "a small mans game".  the said owner has a deep fondness for the jumps game, of all the people around he should know what happened last Saturday is completely against the ethos of the sport....shameful almost comes to mind.

6.40 balnaslow 7/2
backed him at aintree where i got a good look at him in preparade..also oconnor was very sweet on him that day, he got caught to far back and just had to much to do on the day..think he,ll be close again
7.10 castlegrace paddy @4/1
lto win at gowran was a big improvement and he,ll need improvement again here but at the prices im willing to chance it

chepstow 4.45 jameson @6/4
this henderson inmate is won well lto @ffos las, this is a weak affair with the nicholls runner the danger,this son of midnight legend is a scopy sort who,ll make a better chaser imo..really should be winning here..i saw him win his bumper on debut when with another yard..henserson will get the improvement out of this 5yr old.

420 at Punchestown, 16 runners until 130 in the day until Tony Martins rag is withdrawn to ensure 15 runners and 3 places as opposed to 4???

carnt belive that didnt win on run in..jameson big disappointment ,especially to my pocket!

jimeen

10.52 27th april

plenty didnt perform to there best


which are the plenty you refer to ?

Tote doing a nice job on the holiday crowd.
Definate Ruby pays 11/2 for win 8/11 for a place returned 7/1
Slowmotion 1/2 place returned 4/1
Elusive Ivy 4/5 place returned 7/1
Retur en France 8/11 place returned 9/2
All ew punters would be paid 1/4 the odds.
Pirate ship is all it is.

by purpose, you could do a slickster-esque job on the Tote (a la PO'H) except in this case it would be merited. I'm sure only the unsound of mind would bet on this medium except when massive carry-overs can be value of sorts. They have managed to grow turnover - betting from overseas markets - impressively over the past couple of years and are delighted to inform us of this. What they don't mention is profitability and from a turnover of ONE HUNDRED MILLION they manage to employ a few part-timers, sponsor the occasional race and throw a few quid back to the racecourses. It has no useful function otherwise. As is often mentioned here, if you wanted a good excuse to give up betting altogether by becoming totally disillusioned, have a few bets on the tote. Alas, the bookies take the cream and Irish and UK racing depends on handouts. I read during the week that a recent maiden in England attracted six-figure bluebloods and was worth less than £3,000 to the winner-a claimer at a provincial track in France that same day merited something like €19,500.

Gary O Brien on some run in Punchestown ..tipped 14 horses in the 4 days to date without a winner

i see pat keane in yesterdays examiner touting punchestown as next to cheltenham in terms of stature as a festival..id say the racing crowd are  getting him to say that as a favour.he speaks of exciting finishes as if that is the criteria by which to jusge it in terms of quality.you will see plenty of exciting finishes at ballinrobe and sligo in maiden hurdles all the summer pat!!.another thing pat ,throwing around free tickets to try and get the crowd up isnt something you would see in galway or aintree.(55000 friday and 700000 sat in aintree).touts outside aintree selling tatts tickets for 100 pounds?    sorry pat,you often get it right but this time your well out..

I thought there was great crowds at punchestown kavvie and it doesn't bother me if there was a couple thousand freebies.
In fact Friday looked as full as Cheltenham or aintree and I don't like queuing for anything.
Standard of racing at punchestown was up there with the best of UK and miles better than galway