Key Connections to follow in Punchestown on Wednesday Midweek Irish action comes from Punchestown, with the Kildare circuit hosting a hurdles-only afternoon of jumps fare. They get going at 1.40 and race through until 4.45, with conditions forecast to be 'heavy'. The feature race is the Grade 3 Matchbook Betting Exchange Quevega Mares Hurdle (2.45) — a contest the champion trainer has enjoyed a stranglehold on. We've picked out a trainer, jockey and owner to follow at Punchestown on Wednesday. Trainer Willie Mullins is going through the gears as spring begins. The first half of the season was low-key by his incredible standards but all the signs are suggesting the final three months of the campaign will be different. It will need to be, as Gordon Elliott has the guts of a €500,000 lead in the Irish trainers' championship and Dan Skelton has nigh-on £3m more banked in Britain, where hopes of a third successive title are all but shelved. The focus for Mullins will be on the major festivals now, at home and in Britain, and very much on reeling Elliott in as he goes for his 20th Irish trainers' championship. The Grade 3 Quevega Mares Hurdle (2.45) takes its name from Mullins' six-time Cheltenham Festival heroine and it is a contest the Closutton supremo has won six times in its 10 runnings with the likes of Limini, Laurina, Burning Victory and Jade De Grugy all successful. Baby Kate represents Mullins this time, with Brian Hayes on board the Gorm Agus Ban Syndicate-owned daughter of Champs Elysees. She was second behind Santo Sospir at Clonmel last month and will have to improve on what she has done so far to land this race. Mullins also saddles Gigginstown runner Boedic (Paul Townend) in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden Hurdle (2.10) and Hows Hannah (Patrick Mullins) in the Matchbook 50:50 Graduation Series Mares Maiden Hurdle (3.15) on the Punchestown card. Jockey The jockey's title in Ireland seemingly rests between Jack Kennedy (92 winners) and Darragh O'Keeffe (81), with Paul Townend (64) now cast adrift in third spot. Few would begrudge Kennedy his second title. Aged just 21, the Dingle talent became the youngest jockey in the modern era to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2021, and he landed his first Irish jockeys' crown at the end of the 2023/2024 season with 123 winners. Kennedy has suffered more than his fair share of injuries, including six leg breaks, but he's as fit as ever and riding out of his skin this term. A huge Cheltenham awaits with stars like Romeo Coolio, Teahupoo and El Cairos to look forward to. He has three rides on Wednesday's card. Straight John for Elliott and owners Robcour will look to get off the mark in the opening Matchbook 50:50 Graduation Series Maiden Hurdle (1.40) after finishing second behind Supreme Novices' Hurdle contender Leader D'Allier over course and distance last month. He also partners Newbrook Diamond in the following Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden Hurdle (2.10) and Gigginstown mare Torpille Dagrostis in the Matchbook 50:50 Graduation Series Mares Maiden Hurdle (3.15). Owner Owner-breeder Liam Mulryan has been involved in Irish racing for four decades, stretching right back to having purchased Bobbyjo as a foal. From his base in Oranmore, Co Galway, he continues to source and breed top national hunt horses in an ever more demanding bloodstock industry. His five-year-old mare Cousin Kate is out of Augusta Kate by Maxios and is thriving for trainer Denis Hogan. She has won three times since St Stephen's Day, most recently scoring in the Paddy and Maureen Mullins Mares Handicap Hurdle at Dublin Racing Festival at the start of this month. She did that off a mark of 123 and will now test herself in Grade 3 company for the first time, likely as market leader under Sean Flanagan in the feature Quevega Mares Hurdle (2.45), where her half-sister, Baby Kate, is amongst the opposition.
