Punchestown Festival

Punchestown Festival Betting 2012

The Punchestown Festival continues today with some more top class action following some great racing already this week. On Thursday we saw Quevega steal the show once again as the superstar mare claimed his second successive World Series Hurdle win in impressive fashion. The Punchestown Festival Races are always exciting and we have seen some massive crowds heading to the track this week enjoying the sport on offer.

The Punchestown Festival has 10 Grade one races to savour with eachday having at least one feature race similar to that of the Cheltenham Festival and we often see horse who have competed at Cheltenham headingto Punchestown as well. The Champion 4YO Hurdle Odds are always looking competitive for the Festival today with the likes of Grandouet and Unaccompanied heading the betting for the big race on the card.

The Punchestown Festival is of course one of the highlights of the sporting and social calendar in Ireland and it really signals the end of the National Hunt season in the UK and Ireland. Increasingly more and more trainers from the UK are sending their horses to Punchestown for the glory of winning one of the big races, and we have seen massive names like Master Minded and Denman to name just two head across the Irish Sea for Paul Nicholls in recent years.

Punchestown Festival Odds 2012

There are five days of great action for punters to get stuck into with the Punchestown Festival Odds often proving some of the most popular of the entire season. There are a number of grade 1 races through the week and as such they are of course the most popular with punters, while there are also a number of nice supporting races and tough handicaps which can sometimes be where the best value is found.

Of course all the grade 1 races attract the most attention from punters with the Guinness Gold Cup Odds and the Punchestown Champion Chase Odds perhaps the two most popular races of the week. These races tend to attract some of the big names from both sides of the Irish Sea and the betting will be competitive right up until the tape goes up. Another race which allways captures the imagibation of the punnters is the Punchestown Champion Hurdle which has had some top class winners in recent years. Last season we saw the excellent Hurricane Fly take the win and Willie Mullins could well send him back int he hunt for a second successive win in the race.

2012 Punchestown Festival Races and Schedule

We have featured nine of the ten Grade one races at the Festival this year. Each race page includes the runners, betting and form guides of the leading contenders and should be looked at before making any bets. The first day of the Festival is Champion Chase Day as the best 2 mile chasers battle it out and we have seen the likes of Big Zeb and Master Minded both take their chance in recent years while Golden Silver was the impressive winner in 2010.

Day 2 at the Punchestown Festival is Guinness Gold Cup day and it is the Chasers over 3 miles who take centre stage, last year we saw Planet Of Sound take the win and we are looking forward to another top class field once again in 2011. There are two grade 1 races on Day 3 at Punchestown with the World Series Hurdle and the Ryanair Novice Chase the highlights on a fantastic card. Day 4 sees the Champion Hurdle take centre stage and Hurricane Fly could well be back this season to defend the race he won last year at the Festival. The final day of the Punchestown Festival is always a popular one on a Saturday with the main race being the Champion 4YO Hurdle as we look for one or two stars of the future.

Punchestown Festival Tips

The Punchestown Festival is a long week of racing and as such offers punters some great opportunities to have a successful week in betting terms. There are a number of Grade 1 races for punters to enjoy as well as plenty of nice handicap races which can offer some great value for those who study the form. The Punchestown Festival Tips will be running right throughout the week as we try to help punters pick out as many winners as possible. Tom Lee from RTE will be on course throughout the week and and he will be giving us his extra special tips each day from Punchestown, he is well worth following as he has great experience of the Festival.

One of the major tips of the Punchestown Festival is of course to follow the trainers in form and over the past few years the man to follow at Punchestown has been the great Willie Mullins. He is a trainer that has strength in depth so as well as having the big name horses in the Championship races he will also always have a strong hand in each of the handicap and Bumper races.

Punchestown Festival Runners

There are 36 races at the Punchestownn Festival and the Runners for each race will be declared closer to the time with the 48 declaration stage the crucial one for punters as they look to make their bets for the week. The handicaps especially at the Festival tend to have big fields so it can be important to study the runners before each race and they will be made available to punters as when they are released.