Gavin Cromwell
Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Punchestown Thursday preview
William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews his runners for the third day of the 2025 Punchestown Festival.
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Thursday, Punchestown
The first of our eight runners on Thursday is The Other Mozzie in the 2m½f Handicap Hurdle (2.30pm). He’s 26lbs well-in off his chase mark, but that doesn’t always translate perfectly. That said, he seems in great form after his win at Ayr and we’re hoping he’ll run well again here.
Next we have three in the 2m½f Listed Handicap Chase (3.05pm), with Keith Donoghue taking the ride on Midnight It Is. He ran really well in the Grand Annual but he’s rated 137 now and I wonder whether he has much room off that mark. It’ll be difficult but he’s been staying on well at the line in his last few runs so if things fell his way he could run well.
Lazer Wolf came back at Gowran Park after two months off and comes here fresh and well. He’s another who might not be too well handicapped but he’s got a nice racing weight here and hopefully could have a chance.
Conor Stone-Walsh will be taking three pounds off Dutch Schultz and he’s good value for that. He’s got a few runs under his belt recently and he keeps running well, but that means the handicapper hasn’t really dropped him. He was keen the last day at Fairyhouse and still finished well, so if he can do things right and they go quicker on the better ground then hopefully he can be in the mix as well.
We then have Vanillier in the Cross Country Chase (3.40pm), who I thought actually ran well in the National having been flat out throughout the race because the ground was on the quick side for him. These Cross Country races are run at a different pace which suits him more and he’s taken to it well. Hopefully he has a big chance here.
We also run Peaches And Cream who is taking to this discipline for the first time. Switching from standard Chasing to Cross Country did the trick for Stumptown and Vanillier, so hopefully it can have a similar effect for him. He schooled well on Saturday and seemed to enjoy it, so hopefully he can run a good race.
Next we have one of our best chances of the week in Sixandahalf who goes for the 2m½f Listed Mares Novice Hurdle (4.50pm). She’s had a nice gap between runs having not run since Cheltenham and she’s in great form. We’re really looking forward to getting her out here.
Whether or not she runs in the Chester Cup will come down to how she comes out of this race. We’ll have to wait and see and I haven’t made my mind up yet about her plans further down the line, but she could potentially go to Royal Ascot. I’m sure the syndicate would love to go there. We’ll get this run out of the way first and make a plan after that.
Another who hasn’t run since Cheltenham is Only By Night and she goes in the 2m½f Grade 1 Novice Chase (5.25pm). She’s in great form and we’re really happy with her at home. If Majborough has a clear round of jumping this time then he’d be very tough to beat, but she does jump particularly well and he has made mistakes before. We’ll take our chance and hopefully she’ll run well.
