Punchestown will go ahead

Racing`s ruling body yesterday poured cold water on fears that the Punchestown festival might not go ahead, but a spokesman did admit: 'We will have to find out what the nature of the festival will be.'

The Horse Racing Ireland chief executive, Brian Kavanagh, confirmed there will be a meeting involving those concerned in the Punchestown dispute and the HRI next Monday.

A central issue at that meeting will be sponsorship and the approaching deadline for the publication of race details at the festival which runs from April 23rd-26th.

'The races have to be published in early March. Usually it happens the week before Cheltenham so that the Punchestown people can go across to Cheltenham and hustle for runners.

'But because of the current situation, they are not yet in a position to confirm whether the sponsors for the 28 races are fully on board or not. There is also the question of an attractive alternative for British runners in Sandown at the same time,' Kavanagh said.

The widespread fear is that while the April fixture will go ahead at the Kildare course, a possible lack of sponsorship, and an absence of promotion, could result in a festival that will be a pale shadow of its former self.

The internal wrangling at Punchestown resulted in both sides appearing at the High Court on Friday evening when an injunction to prevent a Kildare Hunt Club meeting was granted until there has been time for the KHC Committee to consider a controversial report into the operation of the racecourse.

During that hearing, it was reported that the HRI chairman, Denis Brosnan, had written to the KHC Ltd to express 'grave concerns' at the lack of direction regarding the festival.

The HRI has put approximately ?10 million in grants and loans into Punchestown.

'Arrangements need to be put in place to run what is the second biggest meeting of the year after Galway, and we also have concerns about the overall reputation of Punchestown,' Kavanagh said.