The Punchestown National Hunt Festival gets underway in County Kildare this week. The domestic equivalent of Cheltenham in terms of the Championship races and reputation, it will similarly take place behind closed doors this year but with TV coverage and social media.
RTÉ2 will broadcast live from the racecourse on each of the five days with Boylesports sponsoring the coverage as they have since 2014.
There will also be substantial interest in social media coverage. This year’s Cheltenham Festival saw a ten-fold increase in social activity over previous years. A significant element of this will have been driven by betting companies social media accounts with the potential of greater restriction on their promotional activities coming closer in the UK and potentially in Ireland as well.
Each of the principal championship races is sponsored by a different betting company with William Hill joining the party this year as the new sponsor of the opening day Champion Chase, followed by Ladbrokes with the Gold Cup and Stayers Hurdle, and Paddy Power sponsoring the Champion Hurdle on Friday.
That last-named race will see the reappearance of Honeysuckle, to be ridden again by Rachael Blackmore. The star jockey will have to be on top form and have a huge slice of luck to claim her first Jockeys title for the season, with race leader Paul Townend returning from injury this week and riding the first choice runners from Champion Trainer Willie Mullins’ stable.
Punchestown is gearing up for a return of fans to the Festival in twelve months time and is pushing a promotional campaign to buy tickets for that at half-price throughout this week.
The sport is on a high of engagement following the report we carried last week showing that public engagement and interest is up on the year from 23 per cent to 39 per cent and it will be interesting to check in on viewing figures for this year as well as social media interest.
“The performances and achievements by Irish horses, trainers, jockeys and owners throughout this season have been nothing short of outstanding,” said Punchestown CEO Conor O’Neill.
“It is an honour and privilege to welcome these flagbearers of our great sport back to the home of Irish jump racing for what is shaping up to be one of the best quality renewals of the Punchestown Festival in recent memory.”
“Whilst this year’s Punchestown is not going to be the brilliant social event that we have all known and enjoyed for so many years we look forward to sharing the action with everyone through coverage on RTÉ, Racing TV and the various Punchestown social media channels. Believe us when we say that preparations are already underway for the much-anticipated return of crowds for the 2022 Punchestown Festival.”
Sport for Business will carry a daily diary looking at some of the action taking place on and off the track this week.
Horse Racing Ireland, RTÉ Sport, Paddy Power and Boylesports are all among more than 250+ members of the Sport for Business network of sporting and business organisations working together across a number of key areas.
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