The opening day of the Punchestown festival was utterly spectacular. At this stage, the footage of Al Boum Photos’ moment of madness has, as they say, gone viral. Paul Townend has picked up a lengthy ban for his mistake at the last, although Robbie Power has come to his defence this morning. Unfortunately for his employer, his mistake may be the nail in the coffin for Mullins’ trainers title bid. Earlier in the card Draconien surprisingly triumphed in the Champion novices hurdle at a more than healthy price of 25/1. He travelled strongly through the race and outjumped the improving Vision Des Flos to come home 2 lengths in front. Wednesday’s racing is once again dominated by the Cullentra House and Closutton stables with a few crackers in store. Here are my 2 top selections for today’s card.
17.30 Coral Punchestown Gold Cup (Grade 1) (Class 1) (5YO plus)
Selection: Killultagh Vic Win 5/1
Gordon Elliot is in pole position in the trainer’s championship with a €405,839 lead over the reigning champion Willie Mullins and this race may have a huge bearing on the final destination of the title. There appears to be no stand out contender lining up, although, Noel Meade’s Road to Respect is a worthy favourite and his Cheltenham form is as good as any on show. Djakadam is a perennial underachiever and his likeliness to make an error rules out his chance of winning. Both Edwulf and Outlander are hard to trust as they can both turn in stellar performances on their day but we have probably seen the best they have to offer. The selection has to be Killultagh Vic, Paul Townend will bid to turn his week around on the highly rated stayer. His hurdles form is captivating and he appears to have huge potential if staying upright. He had the field at his mercy in the Irish Gold Cup when falling at the last and if he can put together a fault free round he looks certain to be in the shake up coming to the last.
18:05 Racing Post Champion I.N.H. Flat Race for The Conyngham Cup (Grade 1) (4YO to 7YO)
Selection: Tornado Flyer Win 10-1
4 of the first 5 home in the Champion Bumper in Cheltenham will go to battle today with Relegate and Blackbow disputing favouritism. These four are all trained by none other than Willie Mullins, who as we know has a tremendous record in this race having supplied 5 of the last 7 winners. Relegate stayed on best up the hill on her last outing and will most likely be hard to pass especially with her mare’s allowance of 7lbs. Paddy Mullins has chosen Blackbow as his mount and this may mean that more is expected from the Stoaway bred 5-year-old. This will be a trappy affair and it looks like the winner will come from one of the top four, however, the selection is the outsider amongst that set. Tornado Flyer ran very promisingly in the Cotswolds and having taken a strong hold couldn’t finish out the race as strongly as required. Hurricane Fly was successful at this track no fewer than 9 times and this relation looks to possess a number of his traits. If this speedy 5-year-old settles better than in Cheltenham he will take a lot of beating.
