The success of Irish trained horse at this year’s Cheltenham Festival is to be celebrated in financial style at Punchestown in April following the announcement that overall prize money for winners over the five days is to increase by €200,000.
This represents a 10% increase on last year’s record and pushes the reward for owners and others involved in the sport through €2 million for the first time.
The two races to primarily benefit are the Boylesports.com Champion Chase on the opening day of the meeting and the Rabobank Champion Hurdle on Friday.  The first will have an increase of €60,000 and the second of €40,000 bringing both up to a total prize fund of €200,000.
The winners of the equivalent races at Cheltenham, Sprinter Sacre trained in England and Hurricane Fly, trained in carlow by Champion trainer Willie Mullins are both expected to appear at Punchestown and generate large attendances.
“This increase is an important part of our strategy to retain Punchestown’s position as Ireland’s premier jump racing festival,” said Dick O’Sullivan, Punchestown General Manager.
“The Punchestown Festival attracts the top horses from Ireland and the UK and obviously the prize fund plays a part in making the decision to run here. This increase has been a joint initiative between ourselves, Horse Racing Ireland, Ladbrokes, Boylesports, Rabobank and our panel of sponsors”.
“We are all looking forward to what could possibly be the best Punchestown ever,” added Brian Kavanagh, Horse Racing Ireland Chief Executive.
“Following a record breaking Irish campaign at Cheltenham we are truly in a golden era for Irish racing. My full compliments to the team at Punchestown for putting their own and the sponsors resources into increasing the prize fund for these races. We are proud to support them”.
Racing in Ireland has come through tough times with the rapid expansion of ownership seen in the boom years drying up and fewer owners emerging from sectors like construction and development.
That said Our Conor, an impressive winner of the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham and a horse tipped to become a future star of the sport was bought by a small local syndicate for €20,000 and sold for a figure believed to be close to €1 million in the wake of his recent victory.
Prize money is a major element in attracting the best of the Irish and British runners and in so doing making the meeting more attractive to race goers.
The Cheltenham Festival set records on each of the four days it ran earlier this month and generated gate receipts that would have been well in excess of €10 million.
A study conducted on the Punchestown Festival of 2011 by NUI Maynooth estimated expenditure on travel, accommodation, attendance and spending on the racecourse of more than €50 million, with almost 20% of those attending travelling from the UK.
Among the other sponsors at this year’s Festival whose races have increased in value are Ladbrokes, Aon, Avon Rí Hotel and the irish Daily Mirror.
The Punchestown festival takes place from Tuesday 23rd to Saturday 27th April 2013. You can discover more at www.punchestown.com
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