The 2009 Punchestown Festival doesn’t waste any time in getting down to the biggest race of the meeting, with the Guinness Gold Cup scheduled to be raced in the 6:05 PM timeslot on Wednesday.

Antepost betting markets have set up Ryanair Chase winner, Imperial Commander, as the favourite to dominate a high quality field featuring a number of familiar faces from the Grand National and Cheltenham Festival.

Amongst the strongest contenders is Jim Dreaper’s Notre Pere, who wisely swerved the Irish Grand National in favour of a shot at Grade 1 glory at Punchestown. However, few of the other runners in the field are lacking in the credentials department and this race could easily result in an upset.

Amongst the outsiders who could upset the apple cart is Carl Llewellyn’s Roll Along, while the likes of Schindler’s Hunt and Cooldine also have the records to suggest that they represent great value on each way bets on the Guinness Gold Cup.

Master Minded narrowly avoided defeat in the first feature race of the 2009 Punchestown Festival, holding off a strong challenge from Big Zeb to win the Kerrygold Champion Chase.

Ruby Walsh and Master Minded looked to have the race sown up with under a mile to go in the Kerrygold Champion Chase. However, Barry Geraghty and Big Zeb refused to settle for second place and pulled level with Master Minded as the two front-runners approached the final fence.

However, as has happened so many times in the past with Big Zeb, his jumping let him down. An awkward jump saw him lose ground to Master Minded, and Big Zeb was unable to close the gap on the run-in, eventually finishing a head behind the banker’s favourite.

“Ruby said he was half-pricking his ears and not really racing from two out, but I told him to go on to keep it simple,” a relieved Nicholls told reporters after the race. “It was a gamble coming here as it is the back-end of the season, and even though he has only run three times, he was back in the middle of July.”

“He is a funny horse as now he is older he has got a bit idle at home, which often happens. Big Zeb ran a blinding race, but jumping is the name of the game and we have won on the day. If Big Zeb had jumped the last it would have been an interesting race.”

Crowds at the 2009 Punchestown Festival are to have the opportunity to see one of national hunt racing’s most promising novice hurdlers in action this week, with Hurricane Fly set to appear in the Evening Standard Champion Novices Hurdle.

Hurricane Fly held entries in novices hurdle races at the 2009 Cheltenham Festival before a splint injury intervened, preventing the two times Grade 1 hurdles winner from making the trip to Cheltenham.

Willie Mullins believes that his racehorse is now strong enough to take on the hurdles at Punchestown and is bullish about Hurricane Fly’s prospects in the Evening Standard Champion Novices Hurdle.

“I’m happy with his work at home and we have done our best to get him right so hopefully he is OK. It’s a bit of a disadvantage coming here without a run and some of the other horses have probably had too many runs but hopefully we are better.”

Mullins will have another recent winner in the mix at Punchestown, with Rathbarry & Glenview Studs Novices Hurdle winner, Kempes, also set to run in the Evening Standard Champion Novices Chase.

The 2009 Punchestown Festival will open with ideal ground conditions on Tuesday, after a week of intermittent rain softened the Punchestown racetrack ahead of Ireland’s most prestigious national hunt meeting.

Racetracks throughout the United Kingdom have been presenting faster ground over recent weeks, leading to a higher rate of deaths and injuries amongst jumps racehorses at events like the Irish Grand National.

Course stewards therefore welcomed the softer conditions, since these have attracted some of the top Grade 1 racehorses in the sport, including the likes of Queen Mother Champion Chase winner, Master Minded, and Ryanair Chase winner, Imperial Commander.

“We’re looking forward to it. We’ve got Master Minded on the opening day and we can’t wait for Tuesday,” said Punchestown’s director of racing, Richie Galway.

“We’ve had 20 millimetres in the last four days. It stopped raining on Saturday morning and it dried up a bit during the afternoon. I walked it and it’s winter soft ground, it shouldn’t inconvenience these proper National Hunt horses.”

“The forecast is for a shower or two, so it shouldn’t dry up dramatically and should be beautiful ground on Tuesday. We’ve had rain and sunshine, so the grass cover is good.”

Nigel Twiston-Davies has declared Paddy Power Gold Cup and Ryanair Chase winner, Imperial Commander, for this week’s Punchestown Festival feature race – the Guinness Gold Cup.

Imperial Commander won widespread acclaim at Cheltenham in March by putting in an inspired performance to defeat the strongly backed Voy Por Ustedes in the Grade 1 Ryaniar Chase.

That win has convinced Twiston-Davies that his charge merits a step up in trip against Grade 1 opposition, and Twiston-Davies believes that Imperial Commander has what it takes to triumph in the 3 mile 1 furlong Gold Cup.

“He certainly is going to Punchestown as long as the ground there is OK,” Twiston-Davies told the Press Association. “Anything softer than good will do. He’s in good form and has been kept on the go in full training since Cheltenham. The trip is fine and he’s in really, really good nick.”

Imperial Commander was installed as Guinness Gold Cup 7/2 joint favourite by William Hill following his declaration. His biggest rival in the betting markets is Notre Pere, who is priced as co-favourite by several bookmakers. Nickey Henderson’s Barber’s Shop is priced third in the betting markets at 9/2.

Irish champion trainer Willie Mullins is set to unleash a trio of Cheltenham Festival champions on home turf at the Punchestown Festival next week.

Mullins announced that Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle winner Mikael D’Haguenet will be joined by RSA Chase winner Cooldine and David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle winner Quevaga at the last major national hunt meeting of the season.

“We are looking to run the three Cheltenham Festival winners at Punchestown,” Mullins said this week. “We have had lots of rain and while the weather is a bit drier now, I am hoping it will break again before Punchestown.”

“I have not made any firm decisions yet about Mikael D’Haguenet or as to which races any of my horses will be running in. I will be confirming them in their races and then wait and see what the weather does and how the horses are. It is far too early for me to make a definite plan just yet.”

Mullins indicated that he’d resist giving Cooldine a run in the Guinness Gold Cup, the festival’s feature race, and instead run the promising gelding in the Champion Novices’ Chase.

“Quevega has the option of the two-mile Rabobank Champion Hurdle and the three-mile Ladbrokes.com World Series Hurdle,” Mullins continued. “I will probably go for the two-mile race – bring her back in trip and see how she goes.”

Trainer Charlie Swan is lining up One Cool Cookie for a run in the 2009 Guinness Gold Cup at the Punchestown Festival.

One Cool Cookie competed in the Irish Grand National a fortnight ago, and was well positioned in 7th before making the decision to bypass the final fence of the race.

This performance was good enough to convince Swan that One Cool Cookie deserves a chance in a higher graded race.

“He could go to Punchestown and is entered in a couple of races there,” Swan told RTE. “He’s going to be confirmed for the Grade One but we will just have to see what happens, he will be left in though.”

“He came out of Fairyhouse fine and had run a nice race. He came from a long way back but it was just a bit unfortunate that he jumped the last – he obviously didn’t understand the bypassed fence!”

The Guinness Gold Cup is the grade 1 highlight of the Punchestown Festival, and would pit One Cool Cookie against some of the top grade 1 chasers in national hunt racing.

Barber’s Shop could have another crack at Gold Cup glory at the forthcoming Guinness Gold Cup at the 2009 Punchestown Festival.

The Nicky Henderson trained gelding, who belongs to Queen Elizabeth II, was entered into the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, but failed to make an impression against a top class field.

However, his 7th place in that race has convinced both Henderson and the Queen that a trip to Punchestown is a viable option for their charge.

“I have discussed it with the owner,” Henderson told the Press Association. “The Queen says we should stick him in the race and see how he is in a weeks’ time.”

The Seven Barrows handler went on: “I talked to The Queen and she was worried about the way the Cheltenham horses ran at Aintree, but there is a big difference as there is an extra three weeks to Punchestown.

“It was Barry Geraghty who first mooted the idea as he couldn’t see what else would run,” Henderson continued. “He worked with Punchestowns and it was their first proper piece of work since Cheltenham. He worked well and is in good form.”

“He has only had three runs this season, so hasn’t had an overly hard time of it. I am not saying he will definitely run, but we’ll see how he is and how the ground is – it is vital it is not fast.”

Trainer Noel Meade has warned punters that Powers Gold Cup hero Aran Concerto may not make the trip to the 2009 Punchestown Festival.

Aran Concerto won the Grade 1 Powers Gold Cup at Fairyhouse on Sunday, taking the race by a head from Barker. However the victory didn’t come without cost, as Aran Concerto finished the race lame.

The setback means that he may not recover in time for the 2009 Punchestown Festival, which begins on the 28th of April.

“He’s a bit stiff, he’s actually had a little bit of filling in his good hind leg but he’s as good as I could have hoped and probably a little bit better than that,” Meade told the Associated Press.

“Hopefully a few days will see him right but we’ll just take it day by day with him. We’d have to think Punchestown is probably doubtful, we’ll see, we’ll just give him another couple of days before we make up our mind.”