The Punchestown Champion Chase, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the William Hill Champion Chase, is a Grade 1

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

in Ireland which is open to

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

aged five years or older. It is run at

Punchestown Punchestown Racecourse is located in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 regional roads near Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland. It is known as the home of Irish Jumps Racing and plays host to the annual Punchestown Irish Nationa ...

over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres) and during its running there are eleven fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Punchestown Festival in late April. It was formerly a handicap race, and for much of the 1990s and early 2000s it was usually sponsored by BMW. It became a conditions race in 1999, and it was subsequently backed by

Betdaq Betdaq is a gambling company which operates the world's second largest online betting exchange. The company was founded by Irish businessman Dermot Desmond in 2000 and started trading one year later. In 2013, Betdaq was sold to Ladbrokes for � ...

(2004) and Kerrygold (2005–09) and Boylesports (2010–19). The present sponsor, William Hill, began to support the event in 2021. The field usually includes horses which ran previously in the

Queen Mother Champion Chase The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. As part of a sponsorship agreement with the onl ...

, and the last to win both races in the same year was Energumene in 2022.

Records

Most successful horse since 1950 (2 wins): * Shower of Silver – ''1955, 1956'' * Muir – ''1969, 1970'' * Skymas – ''1972, 1973'' * Light the Wad – ''1981, 1982'' * Klairon Davis – ''1996, 1997'' *

Sizing Europe Sizing Europe (24 March 2002) is an Ireland, Irish National Hunt horse, best known for winning the 2011 Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham. He won the Irish Champion Hurdle in 2008 before switching to chasing, wher ...

- ''2012, 2014'' * Un de Sceaux - ''2018, 2019'' Leading

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

since 1950 (5 wins): * Pat Taaffe – ''Third Estate (1951), Tumble Weed (1953), Nas Na Riogh (1954), Fortria (1961), Dicky May (1966)'' Leading trainer since 1950 (7 wins): *

Willie Mullins William Peter Mullins (born 15 September 1956) is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey. Career He commenced racehorse training in 1988 having previously worked as an assistant to his father Paddy Mullins and Jim Bolger. Willie is a fo ...

- ''Micko's Dream (2001), Golden Silver (2010), Felix Yonger (2015), Un de Sceaux (2018,2019), Chacun Pour Soi (2021), Energumene (2022) ''

Winners since 1980

Earlier winners

* 1950 – Melman * 1951 – Third Estate * 1952 – Clonfert * 1953 – Tumble Weed * 1954 – Nas Na Riogh * 1955 – Shower of Silver * 1956 – Shower of Silver * 1957 – Jack's the Boy * 1958 – Hern's Gift * 1959 – Marchioness Bay * 1960 – Some Other Day * 1961 –

Fortria Fortria (foaled 1952) was an Irish National Hunt horse best known as the first dual winner of the Champion Chase and winner of the inaugural Mackeson Gold Cup. Although very successful over two miles, he also excelled at longer distances, and won ...

* 1962 – Highfield Lad * 1963 – Scottish Memories * 1964 – Flying Wind * 1965 – Belle Artiste * 1966 – Dicky May * 1967 – Ronan * 1968 –

Black Ice Black ice, sometimes called clear ice, is a thin coating of glaze ice on a surface, especially on streets. The ice itself is not black, but visually transparent, allowing the often black road below to be seen through it. The typically low level ...

* 1969 –

Muir "Muir" is the Scots word for "moorland", and Scots Gaelic for "sea", and is the etymological origin of the surname and Clan Muir/Mure/Moore in Scotland and other parts of the world. Places United States * Muir, Willits, California, a former unin ...

* 1970 –

* 1971 – East Bound * 1972 – Skymas * 1973 – Skymas * 1974 –

Tingle Creek Tingle Creek (1966–1996) was an American-bred, British-trained steeplechaser of the 1970s. A handsome, lightly built chestnut horse with a white blaze under a white headband, Tingle Creek was a top-class performer at two miles and won 31 of ...

* 1975 – Our Albert * 1976 – High School * 1977 – Simaroon * 1978 – Shining Flame * 1979 – Scottish Maid

References

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 6 ...

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pedigreequery.com
– ''Kerrygold Champion Chase – Punchestown.''

– ''Racenews Archive (April 25, 2003).'' {{Race Meeting, Punchestown Festival, Turf National Hunt races in Ireland National Hunt chases Punchestown Racecourse

Records

Winners since 1980

Earlier winners

See also

References