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Your Essential Guide to the 2026 Punchestown Festival
The Punchestown Festival is considered by many to be the biggest horse racing event in Ireland and takes place at the Punchestown Racecourse, which is located in County Kildare and is the finale of the Irish jump season.
Racing has taken place at Punchestown since 1824. It was 'Kildare Hunt' who organised the early racing at the course, and in the 1960's it was designated as the "National Hunt Meeting" of Ireland.
The Festival got a real boost in 1868 and was thrown into the spotlight when the Prince of Wales visited the festival, who was the future King Edward VII and made it a must-attend attraction.
The festival has undergone plenty of changes over the years. Originally a two or three-day meeting, it was expanded in 1999 to make it four days and then again in 2008 to its current five-day festival.
Punchestown Festival Information
- Opening Day: Tuesday 26th April
- Closing Day: Saturday 2nd May
- Number of Races: 40
- Number of Grade 1s: 12
- 2025 Leading Trainer: Willie Mullins (15 Winners)
- 2025 Leading Jockey: Paul Townend (6 Winners)
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Route to the Punchestown Festival
Below you can see how many winners came from either the Cheltenham Festival or the Aintree Grand National Meeting.
As you would expect, many more come from Cheltenham; there is a month and a half break between Cheltenham and Punchestown, which gives the runners a much better break than the two and a half / three weeks between Aintree and Punchestown.
2025 saw 47 runners come from Aintree, the highest number since 2016 (49); however, those only produced two winners (James Du Berlais & Petit Tonnerre), which probably highlights that the break is not enough time for a horse to properly recover.
Compared to Cheltenham in 2025, 78 runners came here straight from there, and they produced 16 winners, so just under twice as many runners but 14 more winners, and they won 59% of the races which featured a runner from Cheltenham.
Top Punchestown Festival Trainers
When looking over the last ten Punchestown Festivals and looking at trainer wins, there is one trainer who stands head and shoulders above the rest, and it will be no surprise to anyone that it is Willie Mullins.
He has had an unbelievable 141 winners, which is on average 14 winners each year! He has had runners in 308 races over those 10 years, and with 141 race wins, that means he has won 46% of the races where he has had a runner.
Gordon Elliott is next on the list with 31 winners; that just shows the vast gap between Willie and the rest. He has had 110 more winners than Elliott, and there are only seven trainers in total who have hit double-figure winners.
The top English trainer is Nicky Henderson, who has had 8 winners. 2025 was a bumper year for the Brits with 8 winners, which was an excellent return when you consider that for 2022, 2023 & 2024 combined, they only had 6 winners!
Two of those wins did come from Nicky Henderson, with each of Harry Derham, Warren Greatrex, Alan King, Jonjo O'Neill, David Pipe and Mike Smith all picking up winners.
Top 10 Punchestown Festival Trainers (By Winners)
| Trainer | R-W-P | LSP |
|---|---|---|
| Mullins, W P | 832-141-309 | -23.57 |
| Elliott, Gordon | 406-31-86 | -58.16 |
| Harrington, Mrs John | 178-17-50 | +16.65 |
| Cromwell, Gavin Patrick | 114-12-29 | -19.41 |
| Bromhead, Henry De | 270-10-55 | -186.98 |
| Bolger, E | 73-10-33 | -43.52 |
| Mullins, Emmet | 39-10-16 | +27.91 |
| O'Brien, Joseph Patrick | 98-8-26 | -19.00 |
| Henderson, N J | 53-8-19 | +10.73 |
| Meade, Noel | 131-7-31 | -58.74 |
Top Punchestown Festival Jockeys
Considering the number of wins that Willie Mullins has had at the festival over the last ten festivals, it is no surprise that Paul Townend tops the list for jockeys based on the number of wins.
He has notched up a total of 56 winners since 2015, with 55 of those coming for Mullins. The 2023 festival was a highlight for him; he got into double figures, riding 11 winners from 20 rides.
Patrick Mullins is next on the list, again, not really a surprise to see him up there, considering the number of rides he gets from his dad Willie, who he has ridden 24 winners for, with 2 for other trainers.
Third on the list and the only other active jockey to surpass the 20-win mark is Mark Walsh with 21 winners, 8 of whom have come for Willie, and the large majority have come for owner JP McManus.
Top 10 Punchestown Festival Jockeys (By Winners)
| Jockey | R-W-P | LSP |
|---|---|---|
| Townend, P | 197-56-92 | +9.11 |
| Mullins, Mr P W | 119-26-53 | +40.48 |
| Walsh, M P | 155-21-48 | -21.57 |
| O'Connor, Derek | 83-14-32 | -3.11 |
| Mullins, D E | 152-11-41 | -36.00 |
| Slevin, J J | 68-9-18 | +38.38 |
| Kennedy, J W | 112-8-27 | -33.67 |
| Flanagan, S W | 97-8-21 | -11.79 |
| Codd, Mr J J | 60-8-16 | -23.62 |
| Townend, Miss J | 26-4-11 | -7.12 |
Day One - Tuesday 28th April Champion Chase Day
The highlight on the opening day of the Punchestown Festival is the Grade 1 Champion Chase, which carries a purse of €300,000. There are also two other Grade 1 races on the card with the Champion Novice Hurdle and the Champion Novice Chase.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Killashee Hotel Handicap Hurdle | Ascending Lark (GB) 7yo - 8/1 | Harry Derham Paul O'Brien |
| Champion Novice Hurdle | Irancy (FR) 7yo - 18/1 | W P Mullins Mark Walsh |
| Punchestown Champion Novice Chase | Champ Kiely (IRE) 9yo - 22/1 | W P Mullins Danny Mullins |
| Goffs Defender Bumper | Wonderful Everyday (IRE) 4yo - 16/1 | W P Mullins Miss R Dudfield |
| Punchestown Champion Chase | Marine Nationale (IRE) 8yo - 2/1 | Barry Connell Sean Flanagan |
Day Two - Wednesday 29th April - Gold Cup Day
The Punchestown Gold Cup is the feature on day two of the festival. This Grade 1 is worth €300,000 and is one of three G1 races on the card, with the Channor Novice Hurdle and Champion I.N.H. Flat Race being the others.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Channor Group Novice Hurdle | Jasmin De Vaux (FR) 6yo - 13/8 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| Champion INH Flat Race | Bambino Fever (IRE) 5yo - 11/8 | W P Mullins Miss J Townend |
| Punchestown Handicap Chase | James Du Berlais (FR) 9yo - 7/1 | W P Mullins J J Slevin |
| Punchestown Gold Cup | Galopin Des Champs (FR) 9yo - 5/6 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
Day Three - Thursday 30th April - Champion Stayers Hurdle Day
Two Grade 1 races feature on day three, the highlight of those two being the €300,000 Champion Stayers Hurdle, the other is the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Conway Piling Handicap Hurdle | Jeriko Du Reponet (FR) 6yo - 13/2 | Nicky Henderson James Bowen |
| Frontline Security Handicap Chase | Petit Tonnerre (FR) 7yo - 16/1 | Jonjo & A J O'Neill Richie McLernon |
| Barberstown Castle Novice Chase | Majborough (FR) 5yo - 4/11 | W P Mullins Mark Walsh |
| Champion Stayers Hurdle | Teahupoo (FR) 8yo - 5/4 | Gordon Elliott Sam Ewing |
Day Four - Friday 1st May - Champion Hurdle Day
The Champion Hurdle is the feature on the Saturday; this Grade 1 is worth €300,000 and is one of two Grade 1s on the card, with the Champion Novice Hurdle being the other.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Punchestown Listed Novice Handicap Chase | Sea Music (IRE) 7yo - 28/1 | Emmet Mullins Donagh Meyler |
| Punchestown Champion Novice Hurdle | Final Demand (IRE) 6yo - 7/4 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| Punchestown Champion Hurdle | State Man (FR) 8yo - 9/4 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
Day Five - Saturday 2nd May - Festival Finale
The final day of the Punchestown Festival sees a couple of Grade 1 races, which both carry purses of €125,000, and those are the Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle and the Champion Four Year Old Hurdle.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle | Jade De Grugy (FR) 6yo - 1/1 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
| Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle | Lulamba (FR) 4yo - 11/10 | Nicky Henderson James Bowen |
| Punchestown Listed Handicap Hurdle | Hey Sunshine (IRE) 6yo - 11/2 | W P Mullins Paul Townend |
Article Contributor Information
We are fortunate to have an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to the creation and maintenance of this Essential Guide to the Punchestown Festival are Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse Racing Tips team, overseeing the tipsters and managing the tip settlement, while also creating and managing all the horse racing event previews for National Hunt Racing.
Darren Brett
Expert Guide
Andy Powell
Expert Guide
Other Principal Races at the Punchestown Racecourse
Here are some other notable races at the Punchestown racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.
