Jane Mangan
Jane Mangan’s William Hill Blog: Punchestown Festival 2026 Day One best bets
William Hill ambassador Jane Mangan is here to preview the opening day of the Punchestown Festival, headlined by the William Hill Champion Chase.
Punchestown, Tuesday
The opener is the Ladies Perpetual Cup (2:30pm), a race for local connections, and I fancy Fountain House. This horse has form around Punchestown; he won over two-and-a-half miles here last year and placed in this race before. He arrives off the back of a hat-trick of victories on the point-to-point course and I believe he can kick off the festival in style for favourite-backers.
The Listed two-mile handicap hurdle (3:40pm) is competitive as ever; I fancy Jet To Monte Carlo. He is now nine pounds higher in the handicap than when he ran at Fairyhouse, but he carries a featherweight here and, with Conor Stone-Walsh riding, I expect further improvement to come. He was well handicapped going into Easter, winning as he liked, and he clearly handles big fields. You must pay close attention to Emmet Mullins and Paul Byrne; I think they will be very hard to beat.
The Grade One Champion Novice Hurdle (4:15pm) is an interesting race, given how the Irish hurdlers performed at the Cheltenham Festival. The visitors were left licking their wounds after the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, with no Irish horse finishing in the first four home. We did come good in the Turners, but this is the two-mile event. Le Labo is very interesting for the extremely talented Joseph O’Brien, who maximises the few jumpers he has in the yard, but I’m giving another chance to Sober. He was a fabulous winner at Royal Ascot last summer, and he likes quick ground. He disappointed me at Cheltenham, but he pulled very hard and, over a shorter distance with Paul Townend onboard, I think Sober can make amends for his supporters.
The Grade One Champion Novice Chase (4:50pm) is another fascinating race, with the Brown Advisory and WillowWarm Gold Cup form being put to the test. Kitzbuhel is the obvious pick given what he did at Cheltenham, and the fact he’s going right-handed here should be an asset to him. I admired what Fleur In The Park was able to do at Fairyhouse, but I don’t think the added distance will enhance his chances. Kitzbuhel looks a very straightforward horse. He jumps and travels, and if there’s to be a challenger to the Cheltenham Gold Cup in here, it’s him.
The Grade One William Hill Champion Chase (6:05pm) is the feature race on Day One of the Punchestown Festival. Some people will lament the number of runners from outside yards, but to be frank, you want Majborough, you want Marine Nationale, and you want Il Etait Temps amongst the field. We’ve got all three, and this is the championship level of two-mile chasers. Il Etait Temps was very good in a pace collapse in the Champion Chase at Cheltenham, Majborough blew us away at the Dublin Racing Festival, but his jumping fell apart at Cheltenham. One horse who’s very consistent is Marine Nationale. They’ve reached for cheekpieces for the first time, which I can understand, and with the pace likely to be frenetic following Majborough, I expect Sean Flanagan to put a target on Mark Walsh’s back. Marine Nationale is the reigning champion, and I think he can go back-to-back.
