Opel Sponsor Novice Hurdle At Punchestown Festival GM Ireland, the parent company of Opel and the Opel Dealers of Ireland, will sponsor the Novice Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival on Friday, 29th April, and it will now be known as the Opel Novice Hurdle, it was announced today, Friday 1st April 2005.With prize money of €30,000, the two mile Opel Novice Hurdle will be run on Ladies Day which is traditionally one of the biggest social and sporting dates on the Irish Racing Calendar. This is the first time that Opel have become involved in horseracing sponsorship and it will feature the latest addition to their range of cars, the Astra Sport Hatch. Announcing the sponsorship, Dave Sheeran, Managing Director, GM Ireland, said 'Punchestown provides Opel with a perfect marketing platform for the latest additions to our new range, especially the Astra Sport Hatch, and we look forward to developing our involvement in the Punchestown Festival.'Manager of Punchestown, Dick O'Sullivan, said they were delighted to welcome Opel as the newest sponsor to the Festival and he was confident that they would benefit substantially from their investment in the Opel Novice Hurdle.The Irish National Hunt Festival at Punchestown will run from Tuesday, April 26th to Friday, April 29th and is expected to attract an attendance in the region of 80,000 visitors during the four days, of which 16,000 will be corporate guests.
