Horse Racing Tips
Punchestown Festival 2026: Willie Mullins Braced For Strong Start To Meeting
William Hill News tipster Steve Mullington casts his expert eye over the opening day of the 2026 Punchestown Festival.
Punchestown Tips Tuesday:
- 2.30 – Fountain House (WIN)
- 3.05 – Judicial Deference (E/W)
- 3.40 – Khrisma (WIN)
- 4.15 – Sober (E/W)
- 4.50 – Kitzbuhel (WIN)
- 5.25 – Huntin Boots (WIN)
- 6.05 – Marine Nationale (WIN)
- 6.35 – Hartford (WIN)
The opening day of the Punchestown Festival boasts three Grade One races and features the William Hill Champion Chase.
Our horse racing expert Steve Mullington will be guiding you through the Graded and Listed events this week, plus suggesting a WIN or EACH-WAY selection in all of the other supporting races.
3.40 – 2m½f Handicap Hurdle (Listed)
KHRISMA was pulled up in the Herring Queen Series Final Mares’ Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at Kelso last time after making a serious mistake at the second-to-last hurdle.
She’s clearly a much better horse than that and also a rare Henderson runner at the Festival, so they most rate their chances.
4.15 – 2m½f Champion Novice Hurdle (Grade 1)
Willie Mullins has dominated this race in recent years, winning the last five renewals (2021–2025).
With this statistic in mind, I am keen to select SOBER (NAP), who is a course and distance scorer here, having landed the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle (Grade 2) back in January.
He finished down the field in the Baring Bingham at the Cheltenham Festival, but that was hardly his true running and he can bounce back and will probably be a decent price in our horse racing betting.
4.50 – 3m1f Champion Novice Chase (Grade 1)
Your main man Willie Mullins, has trained three of the last five winners of the Champion Novice Chase and can scoop the pot once more with KITZBUHEL (NB).
Ridden by Harry Cobden, the grey gelding made all the running in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival to hold off stablemate Final Demand by three-quarters of a length.
If he continues in the same vain at this Festival then he is going to take some stopping.
6.05 – 2m½f William Hill Champion Chase (Grade 1)
The 2025 winner and 2025 Cheltenham Champion Chase hero MARINE NATIONALE missed this year’s Cheltenham Festival but is bang on track to defend his title here.
Trainer Barry Connell said on 13 April that the horse is “fine now” and recently completed a successful piece of work at Fairyhouse Racecourse.
Given the nine-year-old’s history of performing well after breaks, Marine Nationale will certainly be much fresher than his rivals and can use that to his advantage.
At odds of 2/1 in our sports betting market, he a confident pick for win purposes.
*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*
