Betting advice for opening day at Punchestown Five days of fantastic National Hunt racing at Punchestown kicks off this afternoon with the feature race on a bumper eight race card the Grade One Champion Chase over two miles where Cheltenham hero Engergumene will look to win back-to-back renewals of the €300,000 contest. Energumene is the 4/11 favourite with BoyleSport to beat his five rivals today following his demolition job in the Cheltenham equivalent last month. If there is to be a danger to Energumene it will most likely come from one of his trio of stablemates in the lineup. Gentleman De Mee missed Cheltenham, but would be a strong contender if producing his A-game here. He has a tendency to blow hot or cold, but on his day he has the ability to put it up to Energumene and the rest as we saw at the Dublin Racing Festival when he was a seven lengths winner from another of today’s rivals Blue Lord. Facile Vega is another short-priced favourite for Willie Mullins on the opening day. The former Champion Bumper winner lost little in defeat when getting his season back on track in the Supreme Novices Hurdle behind Marine Nationale. With the Barry Connell-trained winner absent on this occasion it’s hard to look beyond Facile Vega although Sir Gerhard was beaten at similarly short odds in this race last year. BoyleSports have a number of great offers for their Irish online customers across the Punchestown Festival including money back as a Free bet if your horses finishes second to the favourite in selected races. This applies to the first bet struck in races with 5 runners or more and is up to the value of €20 per race. 18+ T&Cs Apply. Dunlewey.org Again it will be Mullins that provides the opposition to Mullins in this Grade One contest as the Champion Trainer also saddles Diverge (3rd) and Il Etait Temps (5th) which both finished behind Facile Vega at Cheltenham. The third Grade One race today, the Champion Novices Chase over three miles, has a much more open look to it despite Willie Mullins being represented by four of the six runners. Henry De Bromhead’s Journey With Me is shading favouritism at 11/4 with BoyleSports having won twice over fences this season including last time at Naas, but he looked well-held by one of today’s rivals, Classic Getaway, when falling at Gowran in November. Classic Getaway hasn’t been seen since that victory so his fitness will have to be taken on trust. Danny Mullins, who won on Classic Getaway at Gowran, keeps the ride while stable jockey Paul Townend has opted to stick with Appreciate It which tries this distance for the first time since his point-to-point days. Sir Gerhard, the mount of Patrick Mullins, was over four lengths ahead of Appreciate It at Fairyhouse last time so must also have strong claims in a very tricky puzzle. Jockey arrangements for the Mullins camp in the opening Mares Novices Hurdle are somewhat unexpected with Townend picking Fairyhouse puller upper Night And Day ahead of the more experienced Saylavee and Nikini. Gordon Elliott bagged this race last year with a well-supported runner and it may pay to stick with his sole representative Shecouldbeanything. This mare has run well in defeat several times this season including when finishing fifth in the Mares Novice Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Elliott is mob-handed in the confined Bumper on the card with 6 of the 17 runners and while most of the field have yet to race on the track it might be a shrewd move to stick with his Speculatrix. The four-year-old won on debut over the course and distance in February and due to the unique conditions of this race escapes a penalty. The Kildare Hunt Club’s Ladies Cup race over the banks course could easily go the way of Vital Island for the second consecutive year. The eleven-year-old is a specialist over banks and can once again put his experience to good use.
