Key stats at Punchestown this weekend: 'Min was the only horse to buck the trend' There’s some excellent racing to look forward to at Punchestown this weekend, with Grade 1action on both Saturday and Sunday. It looks set to be a very informative weekend and Sunday’s John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase should give us some Gold Cup pointers, whilst the Morgiana Hurdle should tell us about the Champion hurdle picture. We’ve picked out a selection of key statistics to consider across the weekend, which should give you a helping hand when trying to pick out some winners! Strike-rates Emmet Mullins has only had five winners at Punchestown so far this season, which is 17 fewer than Willie Mullins, but his winners have come at a very healthy strike-rate of 31 per cent. That’s just shy of a winner every three runners, so he’s worth keeping an eye on. Jockey Sean Cleary-Farrell has only had five rides at the track but notably, those have yielded three winners. A strike-rate of 60 per cent certainly isn’t to be sniffed at and the conditional rider should get an opportunity or two across the weekend. Paul Townend will be chasing down front-runner Darragh O’Keeffe for the jockeys’ title and his course strike-rate is 35 per cent for the current campaign. It certainly helps that boss Willie Mullins is the course’s leading trainer and is operating at 27 per cent too. Morgiana Hurdle trends The Morgiana Hurdle is the first Grade 1 of the season for two-mile hurdlers and State Man’s absence this season has left the Champion Hurdle picture wide-open. Only two trainers have won this race in the last decade and Willie Mullins is responsible for eight of those. He trains five of nine entries for the race at this stage and Anzadam will be looking to put himself firmly in the Champion Hurdle picture with a big run. Lossiemouth, Irancy, Kargese and Winter Fog are Mullins’ other representatives. Gordon Elliott won the race last year and back in 2020 and Galway Hurdle winner Ndaawi looks like his best contender this time around. Younger horses have an excellent record in this race, as eight of the last 10 winners have been five or six. No veterans have won it in recent years and the oldest victor was nine-year-old Faugheen back in 2017. John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase trends The John Durkan has also been a Grade 1 farm for Willie Mullins in the last decade, as he has won eight of the last 10 renewals. Likely to be mob-handed once again this year, he trains seven of the 11 entries, with last year’s victor Fact To File the obvious candidate. That being said, eight of the last 10 winners were six or seven-year-olds and three-time winner Min was the only horse to buck the trend. Perhaps Stablemate Gaelic Warrior or Gavin Cromwell’s Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin could be the way to go instead. Class is required in order to come out on top in this race, as only one of the last 10 winners (Fact To File) had a rating less than 168 before winning it. We could have up to six runners who fit the bill this time around, so it’s going to be a good one!
