The grand finale of an unforgettable jump racing season takes centre stage as the 2025 Punchestown Festival kicks off tomorrow, Tuesday 29th April and runs until Saturday 3rd May at the Kildare venue.
Organisers are anticipating over 100,000 visitors across the five days of racing, with festival fans travelling from across Ireland, the UK, Italy, the United States and even Australia to be part of this world-class celebration of sport and culture at the home of Irish jump racing.
Racing Ahead
Across 40 races, featuring 12 Grade 1 contests and €3.5 million in prize money, the Punchestown Festival will once again deliver the very best in jump racing.
All indications are that major showdowns are guaranteed with old rivals, young pretenders and redemption missions on the cards.
The opening day features a massive clash between Cheltenham heroes Marine Nationale and J.P. McManus’s Fact To File. The Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup will see superstar Galopin Des Champs take on a challenge from the impressive Spillane’s Tower whilst Friday’s Boodles Champion Hurdle is being billed as one of the races of the season with Constitution Hill confirmed to meet State Man and Golden Ace amongst others.
Headlining the action is an incredible line-up of training and riding talent including the unstoppable Irish and recently crowned British champion trainer Willie Mullins along with his son, Grand National winning rider Patrick Mullins, champion jockey elect Paul Townend, top trainers Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead, Cheltenham Gold Cup winning trainer Gavin Cromwell and the ever popular Rachael Blackmore among those in action.
Particularly evident at the entry stage is the significant increase in UK-trained runners at the festival, with numbers returning to the heights last seen in 2008.
Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls, Jonjo O’Neill, Harry Derham and Anthony Honeyball are joined by new names and faces to sustain the visitor involvement for the future.
The UK contribution is integral to the festival as it not only generates vastly increased interest and TV viewer numbers from across the Irish sea but also each horse running brings with them owners, trainers, jockeys, grooms and associated entourages that require accommodation, hospitality and entertainment in the locality. Over 20% of the festival attendance hail from outside of Ireland so the event is a major contributor to the Kildare tourism numbers and campaign.
The track team have prepared, mowed, aerated, fed and watered over 170 acres of racing ground or the equivalent of around 42 Croke Park pitches. The main team of five men have crafted 330 metres of hand filled steeplechase fence, 180 sections of handmade hurdles and erected just under 10 kilometres of white racing rail all to provide what is essentially a fresh race track each of the five days
New For Punchestown 25
In 2025, the Punchestown team rolls out four key innovations based on customer feedback and trial runs:
Earlier start times of 2.30pm have been rolled out across the week with the exception of Friday that remains at 3.40pm.
The revamped Festival layout and entertainment programme, removing reserved enclosure barriers and improving flow, was very well received in 2024 so this along with further enhancements and improvements are in place for 2025.
Ticket Price Freeze: Prices were reduced last year with discounts for those that book in advance of festival week. Generous concessions remain for senior, student and family (Saturday) and free entry for children under 14 throughout the week.
Friday Remote Drop & Collect Bus Service to address the changes in transport habits, Naas racecourse and Killashee Hotel are the two off-site drop and collect points on Festival Friday. From 12 noon. Free out and €5 cash back. Full transport services available on www.punchestown.com
Festival Social Scene
The Punchestown party will feature great live music throughout the enclosures with Spring Break playing floor fillers for the first three days and exciting new DJ performances planned for Friday and Saturday evenings.
17,000 hospitality guests from 806 companies (including 164 from the UK) will enjoy delicious seasonal menus crafted by a 68-strong team of chefs, supported by over 760 hospitality staff. Three and a half tonnes of fresh vegetables, 60 kilos of artisan cheeses, and 15,000 exquisite canapés and desserts will be served across the five days. A team of almost 300 bar staff will pour an estimated 132,000 pints, measure 20,000 shorts and fill 8,000 champagne glasses.
Style lovers will once again flock to the Bollinger Best Dressed Competition, open to all, taking place over the first four days and culminating in the grand final on Ladies Day, Friday 2nd May. Fresh for 2025 is the sustainable theme of Something Old/Something New focusing on conscious fashion choices. New to the Style Council judges are multi-award winning sustainable designer Aoife McNamara and acclaimed stylist Isabel Gleeson.
Further additions include the Bollinger Concierge marquee where Kildare-based beauty brand Ayu will have a host of professional make-up artists offering make-up top-up and professional advice. Vision Ireland will have specially curated rails of pre-loved designer garments to showcase just how stylish sustainable fashion can be.
Community & Charity
Beyond the track, Punchestown plays a vital role in the local community where the Festival contributes over €60 million annually. What is considered the most important race of the festival because it makes the biggest difference is the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund Charity race and in it’s 34th year of running is on target to break the €2,000,000 fundraising mark.
At the centre of the festival is community and at the centre of community is family and the GAA. We are delighted to continue our great association with Naas, Eadestown and Ballymore Eustace GAA clubs who steward the track, fences, hurdles, and horse crossing areas throughout the site in return for club funding.
In a landmark collaboration, Punchestown Racecourse, Aramark, Ireland’s leading food services provider and St. Kevin’s Community College in Dunlavin have joined forces to launch Elevate 2025 – a pioneering Transition Year (TY) programme that combines community involvement, real-world skills training, and local pride. Following a five week training programme, 70 St. Kevins College transition year students will be employed by Aramark for paid work experience at the upcoming Punchestown Festival.
Each year a number of national charities are joined by local schools in the official bucket collection campaign. This year we are proud to welcome Down Syndrome Ireland, St. Corban’s National School, St. Brigid’s Hospice and The Samaratin’s and wish them the very best in their fund raising endeavours.
“There is something really special about the buzz ahead of this year’s Punchestown Festival,” said Conor O’Neill, CEO.
“It’s even more than the brilliant achievements by our horses, jockeys, owners and trainers throughout the season. It’s the local and national enthusiasm and pride that are reflected not only in bookings and sales but in requests for information, signage, enquiries about how they get involved. People Make Punchestown and there is a great appetite and goodwill for the event this year even more than previous. Combine this with a forecast that we can only wish for and we are in for a magic week.”
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
Punchestown is a great coming together of sport, business, hospitality and entertainment. Well worth a trip and looking forward to being there on Thursday.
WHAT’S UP NEXT?
The 2025 Punchestown Festival takes place from Tuesday 29th April to Saturday 3rd May at Punchestown Racecourse. Tickets and full information available at www.punchestown.com.
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