Punchestown Champion Chase

The Punchestown Champion Chase is one of the feature races of the annual Punchestown Festival in Ireland. The Grade 1 race is Ireland’s premier 2 mile steeplechase event, and the Irish version of the Cheltenham Festival’s Queen Mother Champion Chase.

The Punchestown Champion Chase is run over a distance of 2 miles on Punchestown Racecourse during late April/early May. Entry to the race is open to 5-year-old and above racehorses.

It is not unusual for the Punchestown Champion Chase to feature entries that ran in the Queen Mother Champion Chase earlier in the season.

Punchestown Champion Chase Betting Tips

• A Queen Mother Champion Chase winner will often attract strong backing in the Punchestown Champion Chase. These entries are hard to ignore as they have consistently outclassed racehorses on the Irish national hunt racing circuit over the years.
• Age appears to play no major role in the outcome of the Punchestown Champion Chase. Race winners in the last decade have been aged anywhere from 6- to 10-years-old.
• The improvement in quality of entries in recent years has seen antepost favourites perform well in the Punchestown Champion Chase, with market leaders achieving an 80% hit rate in the last half decade.
• Long odds upsets are rare in the Punchestown Champion Chase, with the majority of race winners priced 5/1 or lower.

Punchestown Champion Chase History

The Punchestown Champion Chase is one of the oldest races at the Punchestown Festival and has been on the card since 1950. Originally a handicap race, the Punchestown Champion Chase soon became an important fixture at Ireland’s most important racing festival.

For much of its history the Punchestown Champion Chase was primarily of interest to trainers working in Ireland, with the big names of British racing rarely taking the trip across the Irish Sea to compete in the event.

This has changed in recent years with a number of national hunt’s 2 mile stars traveling to the race and winning it. Notable winners include Flagship Uberalles, Moscow Flyer and Master Minded all of whom took a brace of victories in the Queen Mother Champion Chase as well as victory in the Punchestown Champion Chase.