Peerless Punchestown gets up and running on Tuesday afternoon as the National Hunt season in Ireland draws to an end with five days of high quality racing in Co Kildare.

There's more than €3m in prize money to be had and the meeting kicks into gear with a trio of Grade 1 races on Tuesday, including the William Hill Champion Chase at 6.00pm.

Just six runners have been declared but it's a select field that includes a pair of Queen Mother Champion Chase winners, an Arkle winner and last month's hugely impressive Ryanair Chase scorer.

Punchestown Champion Chase Tips

Odds courtesy of William Hill and correct at the time of publishing

William Hill Punchestown Betting Offer

Marine Nationale to deliver again

Trainer Barry Connell is very much up for the battle when it comes to seeing his stable star MARINE NATIONALE bid for successive Grade 1 prizes.

He was twice defeated at Leopardstown earlier in the season by the front-running Solness but it was a different story in the Cotswolds when Marine Nationale won the Queen Mother Champion Chase last time.

The eight-year-old benefitted from the mid-race blunder suffered by favourite Jonbon and his win was made easier when Quilixios came down at the last, but he looked to be doing best in any case by that point.

He's only had six starts over fences and remains lightly raced for his age. After his success in Cheltenham, his trainer has oozed confidence that there is more to come at Punchestown.

"He's actually improved from Cheltenham, both physically and mentally. I couldn't be any happier with him," he recently told the Racing Post. "He couldn't be in a better place. All I can say is that we're ready for it and we can't wait."

With that in mind, and the fact that Marine Nationale is an out-and-out two-miler, he is fancied to prevail again at Punchestown.

Reasons to doubt Fact To File

Fact To File looked superb as he won the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival but the Willie Mullins-trained star has a different challenge on his hands now.

He won that intermediate Grade 1 in great style but the form is questionable, and the drop back to the minimum distance is an unknown for him now.

Mullins clearly believes it is something he can cope with, but this will be the first time Fact To File has run over a trip as short as this since the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in 2023.

He won the John Durkan over 2m3½f here in November, beating stayers Spillane's Tower and Galopin Des Champs. The prospect of facing Marine Nationale is much different and he might lack the raw speed required. For that reason, the odds-on jolly is overlooked.

Captain Guinness, the fortuitous 2023 Champion Chase winner, and the previous season's Arkle winner, El Fabiolo, both have major questions to answer based on form shown this term.

Now 10-years-old, Henry De Bromhead's Captain Guinness leaves the impression his best days are behind him, while El Fabiolo has two falls in three starts this spring, with a shock reverse behind Senecia sandwiched in between.

If there is to be a shock, then perhaps SOLNESS will provide it for Joseph O'Brien. He won back-to-back Leopardstown Grade 1s earlier this season with aggressive front-running tactics in force.

The standing start at Cheltenham in the Champion Chase meant he was never able to force the issue there and he was well beaten in the end. He may get his own way in front here and he has shown this season he isn't an easy nut to crack in that scenario.