Henry de Bromhead's 'under par' Punchestown Festival assessed

The jumps season is in the rear view mirror after the conclusion of the Punchestown Festival and we're taking a look back at how things went for Henry De Bromhead at the Kildare venue as their five-day National Hunt finale served up some cracking entertainment.

Quiet end to the season for Knockeen team

De Bromhead is something of a specialist in terms of getting his team to peak for the key moments in the spring.

That showed again as Bob Olinger and Air Of Entitlement won at Cheltenham and then Hiddenvalley Lake did the business at Aintree, but it was largely a Punchestown Festival to forget for the Co Waterford handler.

Over the course of five days, De Bromhead sent out 29 runners at the Punchestown Festival but he left without a winner.

Indeed, he only managed to get a couple of horses inside the top three, and one of those was Monty's Star in the four-runner Punchestown Gold Cup.

For a trainer so commonly associated with big-race success, including at Punchestown, it was definitely a well below-par year.

Captain Guinness gives his all in Champion Chase

Captain Guinness has been a faithful and enduring servant to the De Bromhead team and, once more, he gave his running in the William Hill Champion Chase, finishing second.

He chased home Marine Nationale, the horse that had succeeded him as the Queen Mother Champion Chase winner at Cheltenham in March, beaten seven lengths but he was clear of the likes of Solness and Fact To File.

It was his third try at this race and the closest he came was last year, when he was agonisingly denied a neck behind Banbridge.

He has six wins over fences, all graded successes and the highlight being that Cheltenham Festival win in 2024.

He has raced almost exclusively at two miles in his career, but it will be really interesting next season to see where Captain Guinness is aimed. A step up in trip could be in the offing, or perhaps he will follow some high-class chasers in going down the Cross Country road in the twilight of his career.

Monty's Star no match for Galopin Des Champs

Monty's Star signed off his campaign by finishing third in the Gold Cup, 24 lengths adrift of the ultra-impressive Galopin Des Champs.

Although he surrendered his Cotswolds crown to Inothewayurthinkin on his previous start, Willie Mullins' star once more showcased his durability with this bounce-back win.

Spillane's Tower was second, with Monty's Star completing the podium in front of King George winner Banbridge.

The Barry Moloney-owned eight-year-old remains quite lightly raced. He has only eight runs over fences and just 12 in his career in total.

He didn't quite look top-drawer at any stage this season, but he's a classy horse nonetheless and some major handicaps over three miles and further could be pending for him next season.

Nouvotic one for the future

Nouvotic won a 2m4½f maiden hurdle at Wexford last summer for De Bromhead and owner Roger Brookhouse, beating Gordon Elliott's Lightkeeper into second spot.

Nouvotic meanwhile wasn't spotted again until the Adare Manor Opportunity Series Final Handicap Hurdle at Punchestown, a break of 291 days.

He appeared off an opening mark of 116 and ran a fine race in fourth behind UK raider Thanksforthehelp for David Pipe, the Gavin Cromwell-trained Ballysax Hank and Stay Gold for Colm Murphy.

That could come to look like some solid form in time and there should be mileage in this six-year-old in handicaps if he can string a few runs together. With his good-ground form, he might even be one for the summer months.