The grand finale of the Irish National Hunt season is almost upon us, as the 2026 Punchestown Festival gets underway this week.
Five days of prestigious racing will see Champions crowned, as elite yards go head-to-head in 40 races – 12 of which are Grade One contests.
Wednesday, April 29, will see the Punchestown Gold Cup take centre stage, on a day that will also see the Champion Stayers’ Hurdle take place.
The former is due off at 18:05pm and will see horses jump 17 fences, during their three-mile journey around County Kildare.
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Gold Cup winner
The 2026 Punchestown Gold Cup betting market is headed by Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Gaelic Warrior, who is one of five representatives for trainer Willie Mullins.
Gaelic Warrior will return to this course for the first time since he made a winning seasonal reappearance back in November – when he defeated stablemate Fact To File.
He then finished a close third in the King George on Boxing Day, before he succumbed to Fact To File in the PaddyPower Irish Gold Cup – ahead of his victory at Cheltenham.
Fact To File is set to re-oppose in this contest, as the two jostle for favouritism at the head of the market – trading at 11/8 and 6/4 respectively.
He finished back in sixth place in the King George, though bounced back to form in the aforementioned race, where he beat Gaelic Warrior by five lengths.
Fact To File hasn’t been seen since that contest, which took place in early February, and he will arrive here as one of two runners looking to carry the colours of renowned owner JP McManus to victory.
Cromwell’s representative
Last season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin is the sole runner in the field to hail from outside of Mullins’ yard.
He will look to play a part in denying Mullins his 19th Irish Trainers’ Championship, as he goes head-to-head with Gordon Elliott.
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Trainer Gavin Cromwell’s horse was beaten by 53 lengths in the race, which saw Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File complete the top-two back in November.
He was then beaten by 41 lengths in the Savills Chase, before he fell at Leopardstown – in the race that saw Fact To File defeat Gaelic Warrior.
His subsequent third-placed finish in the Cheltenham Gold Cup remains his latest outing ahead of the Punchestown Gold Cup, for which he is the 11/2 third-favourite.
Grand National disappointment
Grangeclare West was one of the runners fancied to go very close in the Grand National earlier this month, though he didn’t get further than the first fence.
His form before that isn’t compelling either, as he was beaten by 61 Lengths – by Gaelic Warrior – at Punchestown, back in November, before he went on to finish last of the eight runners to finish the PaddyPower Irish Gold Cup – won by Fact To File.
He is priced at 12/1 in the betting for the Punchestown Gold Cup, ahead of stablemate Impaire Et Passe – who comes next at 14/1.
The latter had recorded form figures of 11131 over fences, though was brought down on this card last season and has since failed to finish in two of his subsequent three races.
Champ Kiely rounds off the runners for the 2026 Punchestown Gold Cup and he is priced at 33/1 to win the race, as his form is lacking in this field.
READ MORE: Punchestown Festival 2026: The Jukebox Man to miss Gold Cup
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