Jane Mangan
Jane Mangan’s William Hill Blog: Punchestown Festival 2026 Day Three Best Bets
William Hill ambassador Jane Mangan is back with her best bets on Day Three of the 2026 Punchestown Festival.
Punchestown, Thursday
Kicking off with the Listed Mares Novice Hurdle (3:05pm), it isn’t a particularly competitive race and I’m siding with Diamond Du Berlais. She ran with great credit behind White Noise in the Mares’ Novice Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Unlike some of her stable companions, she skipped the Fairyhouse Easter Festival and is coming here fresh. She has some solid form in France and I think Patrick Mullins is on the right one; she’ll do for me.
The La Touche Cup (3:40pm) is always a head-scratcher and is notoriously difficult, and I’m taking one of the elder statesmen, Vanillier. Despite being beaten in the race last year, he ran well and is a winner over the course and distance at Punchestown, so given his course form and former class, he is the one to be with in the La Touche.
In the three-mile handicap hurdle (4:15pm), I like the chances of Karl Des Tourelles. He hasn’t been seen since being beaten just under five lengths by Air Of Entitlement in the Martin Pipe; I thought that was a career-best effort and he was even dropped a pound by the handicapper for that effort. He was fourth in this race off the same mark, but now, as a six-year-old, I expect him to have strengthened up and be better off this time around. Given how well he ran in March, I think he will run a big race.
In the two-mile handicap chase (4:50pm), I like Come Walk With Me. He got an 11-pound rise for winning at Fairyhouse and I thought he really came into his own on the better ground for Eddie Cawley. He had been keeping good company in his beginners’ chases on slower ground, but he transformed at Fairyhouse on the good ground and I expect that to continue despite the penalty.
As a broadcaster, you always ask yourself how you are going to build and present a race to the public and, when it comes to the Grade One Barberstown Novice Chase (5:25pm), I am going to build this race as if Kopek Des Bordes is a machine. I think he is, and to run as well as he did at Cheltenham despite making novicey mistakes, most notably when pecking at the last, and to still run so well in the circumstances is a massive performance. He faces a small field; he may not be a betting proposition, but I think this horse is the real deal. It’s Kopek Des Bordes to blow them away.
In the Champion Stayers’ Hurdle (6:05pm), I’m going to go with Bob Olinger. He’s lightly raced and has only had two starts this season since he won the Stayers at Cheltenham in 2025. He acquitted himself with great credit in this year’s renewal and, considering the drying ground and the question marks about some of his opposition, his consistency is a big benefit. He has only been out of the first three twice in his 21-race career and he is, despite his age of 11, one of the most reliable horses in training. He’s the one for me.
