Punchestown Festival 2026: Dates, how to watch on TV, trainers and jockeys to watch 

The eyes of the racing world will turn to Ireland next week for the grand finale of the Irish National Hunt season – the 2026 Punchestown Festival. 

Headlining the event is the clash between Britain and Ireland’s most prestigious yards, as they resume their battle for glory just six weeks on from the Cheltenham Festival. 

Despite having an extra day of racing, the Festival has its similarities to its English counterpart with horses often familiar with Prestbury Park. 

Twelve Grade One races are the highlight of the five-day meeting, in which 40 races are scheduled to run, awarding over 3.5 million euros in prize money. 

The hosts often dominate as the away side, but how will it all unfold as racing’s elite descend on County Kildare?

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When is the 2026 Punchestown Festival?

Tuesday, April 28, is the opening day of five that will see Punchestown take centre stage. 

Day one of the Festival kicks off with the Kildare Hunt Club Cross Country Chase for the Ladies Perpetual Cup – it begins at 2:30pm UK time. 

It precedes the William Hill Champion Chase, in which Champion Chase winner Il Etait Temps is the (6/4) ante-post favourite for eight-time winning trainer Willie Mullins. 

Days two and three feature the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup and Ladbrokes Champion Stayers Hurdle, where Gaelic Warrior and Teahupoo head the respective markets. 

The penultimate day features the Boodles Champion Hurdle, a race that will see Lossiemouth look to continue her star-studded career after her recent Cheltenham win. 

The crowning of the season champions, in the winners enclosure, is preceded by races such as the Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle and Ballymore Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle, on day five. 

Trainers to watch

Mullins has had another memorable season that has seen him claim another Champion Trainer title at the Cheltenham Festival, after he trained eight winners at the meeting. 

He also claimed his third-consecutive Grand National, when 2024 winner I Am Maximus stormed to victory for the second time in his career. 

However, he faces a fight to retain the Irish Trainers’ Championship for the 19th consecutive season, with Gordon Elliott out in front by just over 100,000 euros. 

Luckily for Mullins, he has recorded a 25% win rate at Punchestown this season, which is a higher percentage than Elliott’s 12%. 

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Mullins has recorded the same strike rate across the last five seasons, whilst Elliott has seen 13% of his Punchestown runners win over that time period. 

Gavin Cromwell has performed equally as well as Elliott over the last five seasons, whilst Henry De Bromhead has tallied a slightly worse win rate. 

Together, they round off the top-four in this season’s Irish Trainers’ Championship. 

Dan Skelton leads the British Trainers’ Championship by a landslide, as he has corrected the wrongs of last season, which saw him pipped to the title by Mullins. 

He is out in front by over two million pounds in prize money after he became the first National Hunt trainer in Britain to surpass four million pounds in a single season. 

Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls trail the top-two in the British Trainers’ Championship, though it is unlikely that they will have much of an impact at Punchestown. 

Jockeys to watch 

Darragh O’Keefe and Jack Kennedy remain locked in a battle to win the Irish Jockeys’ Championship, with the pair separated by just six victories.

Kennedy won the title in 2024 and he remains the only jockey other than Paul Townend to win the accolade since 2019. 

Townend rounds off the top-three in the Irish Jockeys’ Championship, with him 10 wins adrift of O’Keefe and 34 wins clear of Donagh Meyler. 

Thirty-four per cent of his Punchestown rides so far this season have ended in victories – which is better than Kennedy’s 18%. 

Mark Walsh has been one of the better-performing jockeys at Punchestown this season, too, having also won 18% of his rides. 

Both Walsh and Kennedy see their Punchestown strike rate dip to 17% when looked at over the last five seasons, whilst Townend’s shoots up to 44%. 

Patrick Mullins is another to keep an eye on, having won 30% of his Punchestown rides over the last five seasons. 

Sean Bowen leads the British Jockeys’ Championship by over 100 wins, but has totalled the same win rate as second-placed Harry Skelton. 

They have both recorded a seasonal win rate of 24%, whilst third-placed Ben Jones and fifth-placed Harry Cobden sit at 21%. 

Just 10 victories separate Jones and eighth-placed Sam Twiston-Davies, with Cobden, Brian Hughes and Gavin Sheehan in between. 

How to watch the 2026 Punchestown Festival?

Racing TV subscribers can tune into their subscription-based programming to see all the racing live.

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