Punchestown Festival News
The biggest Punchestown Festival news for 2008 is that the festival will run over a full five days, from 22 April to 26 April, instead of only over four days. For the first time, National Hunt racing fans that have to work during the week will be able to attend the festival on Saturday. The extra day is also expected to generate betting turnover of up to €18 million.
Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, said, “We are delighted with the extension of the Punchestown Festival and very excited by the fact that it will provide a fitting conclusion to the Irish National Hunt season. We look forward to Punchestown Festival Saturday being the climax of another successful season for the stars of Irish racing.”
Saturday is to see the introduction of a new feature race, the 2-mile, 4-furlong Handicap Hurdle, with a prize fund of €220,000. In addition, the traditional charity sweepstakes race will be run on Saturday, instead of on the usual Festival Friday. With the extension of the festival to five days, organisers are expecting as many as 100,000 spectators to attend.
Other Punchestown Festival News
At least two National Hunt Grade 1 races will be run on each day of the 2008 Punchestown Festival, with a minimum of seven races per day.
A number of new races have been added to the festival schedule for 2008. These include:
- a 2-mile, 4-furlong Winners of One Hurdle race, with a prize fund of €30,000
- a 2-mile, 4-furlong Final of the Martinstown Handicap Hurdle Series race, with a prize fund of €50,000
- a Five-Year-Old INH Flat Race, with a prize fund of €20,000
In 2007, the status of two races was upgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 1. These Grade 1 races will be run again in 2008. They include the Punchestown Morgiana 2-mile Hurdle, and the Punchestown Ellier 3-mile, 1-furlong Novice Chase.
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