Punchestown Champion Hurdle

The Punchestown Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Punchestown over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and during its running there are nine hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Punchestown Festival in late April or early May.

Punchestown Champion Hurdle
Grade 1 race
LocationPunchestown
Co. Kildare, Ireland
Race typeHurdle race
SponsorPaddy Power
WebsitePunchestown
Race information
Distance2 miles (3,219 metres)
SurfaceTurf
TrackRight-handed
QualificationFour-years-old and up
Weight11 st 4 lb (4yo);
12 st 0 lb (5yo+)
Allowances
7 lb for fillies and mares
Purse€250,000(2021)
1st: €147,500
Punchestown Champion Hurdle
2022
Honeysuckle Echoes In Rain Darasso
Previous years
2021
Honeysuckle Sharjah Epatante
2020-2011
2019
Buveur D'Air Supasundae Wicklow Brave
2018
Supasundae Wicklow Brave Bleu Berry
2017
Wicklow Brave My Tent Or Yours Arctic Fire
2016
Vroum Vroum Mag Identity Thief My Tent Or Yours
2015
Faugheen Arctic Fire Dell' Arca
2014
Jezki Hurricane Fly Steps To Freedom
2013
Hurricane Fly Thousand Stars Rock On Ruby
2012
Hurricane Fly Zaidpour Thousand Stars
2011
Hurricane Fly Thousand Stars Binocular
2010
Hurricane Fly Solwhit Thousand Stars
2010-2003
2009
Solwhit Punjabi Quevega
2008
Punjabi Sublimity Ebaziyan
2007
Silent Oscar Macs Joy Hardy Eustace
2006
Macs Joy Brave Inca Hardy Eustace
2005
Brave Inca Harchibald Macs Joy
2004
Hardy Eustace Rooster Booster Fota Island
2003
Quazar Back In Front In The Forge
 

The present version of the race was introduced in 1999, and it was initially sponsored by Shell. Several different sponsors have followed, including Emo Oil, ACCBank, Rabobank, Racing Post and Betdaq. Its current sponsor, Paddy Power, began supporting the race in 2021.

The field usually includes horses which ran previously in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, and the last to win both events in the same year was Honeysuckle in 2022. For a period the race was restricted to horses aged five or older, but the minimum age was lowered to four in 2009.

Records

Most successful horse since 1999 (4 wins):

Leading jockey since 1999 (6 wins):

  • Ruby Walsh - Davenport Milenium (2002), Hurricane Fly (2011, 2012, 2013), Faugheen (2015), Vroum Vroum Mag (2016)

Leading trainer since 1999 (8 wins):

  • Willie Mullins – Davenport Milenium (2002), Hurricane Fly (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), Faugheen (2015), Vroum Vroum Mag (2016), Wicklow Brave (2017)

Winners since 1999
Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
1999 Istabraq 7 Charlie Swan Aidan O'Brien
2000 Grimes 7 Charlie Swan Christy Roche
2001 Moscow Flyer [lower-alpha 1] 7 Barry Geraghty Jessica Harrington
2002 Davenport Milenium 6 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
2003 Quazar 5 Tony Dobbin Jonjo O'Neill
2004 Hardy Eustace 7 Conor O'Dwyer Dessie Hughes
2005 Brave Inca 7 Tony McCoy Colm Murphy
2006 Macs Joy 7 Barry Geraghty Jessica Harrington
2007 Silent Oscar 8 Robbie Power Harry Rogers
2008 Punjabi 5 Barry Geraghty Nicky Henderson
2009 Solwhit 5 Davy Russell Charles Byrnes
2010 Hurricane Fly 6 Paul Townend Willie Mullins
2011 Hurricane Fly 7 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
2012 Hurricane Fly 8 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
2013 Hurricane Fly 9 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
2014 Jezki 6 Tony McCoy Jessica Harrington
2015 Faugheen 7 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
2016 Vroum Vroum Mag 7 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins
2017 Wicklow Brave 8 Patrick Mullins[lower-alpha 2] Willie Mullins
2018 Supasundae 8 Robbie Power Jessica Harrington
2019 Buveur d'Air 8 Davy Russell Nicky Henderson
no race 2020 [lower-alpha 3]
2021 Honeysuckle 7 Rachael Blackmore Henry de Bromhead
2022 Honeysuckle 8 Rachael Blackmore Henry de Bromhead
  1. The 2001 running took place at Leopardstown
  2. amateur rider
  3. The 2020 running was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland

See also

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.