The Punchestown Champion Hurdle 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: ...

hurdle race 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 four 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 nine hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Punchestown Festival in late April or early May. The present version of the race was introduced in 1999, and it was initially sponsored by

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

. Several different sponsors have followed, including Emo Oil,

ACCBank ACC Loan Management Limited, formerly ACCBank plc, was originally a commercial bank in Ireland that focused on agriculture and SME lending, and later became a company that focussed on managing the lending facilities of its existing clients. The ba ...

Rabobank Rabobank (; full name: ''Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.'') is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation (Raboban ...

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 ...

and

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 � ...

. Its current sponsor,

Paddy Power Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK Ireland (UKI) and International. UKI operations ...

, began supporting the race in 2021. The field usually includes horses which ran previously in the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, and the last to win both events in the same year was

Honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both contin ...

in 2022. For a period the race was restricted to horses aged five or older, but the minimum age was lowered to four in 2009.

Records

Most successful horse since 1999 (4 wins): *

Hurricane Fly Hurricane Fly (foaled 5 April 2004) is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in hurdle races when under the care of trainer Willie Mullins at Closutton in County Carlow in Ireland. He is a dual winner of the ...

- ''2010, 2011, 2012, 2013'' 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 1999 (6 wins): *

Ruby Walsh Rupert Walsh (born 14 May 1979 in Kill, County Kildare, Ireland) is an Irish former jockey. He is the second child, and eldest son, of former champion amateur jockey Ted Walsh and his wife Helen. Walsh is the third most prolific winner in Britis ...

- ''Davenport Milenium (2002), Hurricane Fly (2011, 2012, 2013), Faugheen (2015), Vroum Vroum Mag (2016)'' Leading trainer since 1999 (8 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 ...

– ''Davenport (2002), Hurricane Fly (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), Faugheen (2015), Vroum Vroum Mag (2016), Wicklow Brave (2017)''

Winners since 1999

References

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pedigreequery.com
– ''ACCBank Champion Hurdle – Punchestown.''

– ''Racenews Archive (April 25, 2003).'' {{Race Meeting, Punchestown Festival, Turf National Hunt races in Ireland National Hunt hurdle races Punchestown Racecourse Recurring sporting events established in 1999 1999 establishments in Ireland

Records

Winners since 1999

See also

References