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 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,
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 and
Betdaq. 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 at
Cheltenham, and the last to win both events in the same year was
Honeysuckle 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 - ''2010, 2011, 2012, 2013''
Leading
jockey 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 Brit ...
- ''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
See also
*
Horse racing in Ireland
*
List of Irish National Hunt races
References
*
Racing Post:
** , , , , , , , , ,
** , , , , , , , , ,
** ,
----
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