Who could we see at Punchestown next? With the Cheltenham Festival now firmly in the rear view mirror, we move onwards to what remains of the major spring festivals across Ireland and Britain. Big meetings will come at Aintree, Ayr, Fairyhouse and Sandown before the season-ending spectacular at Punchestown. Here's a look at five performers we might see in Co Kildare from Tuesday 29th April - Saturday 3rd May. Kopek Des Bordes He delivered in fine style for the Mullins team in the Supreme at Cheltenham, justifying the hype he'd helped to create with his outstanding Dublin Racing Festival win, and the KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle on Tuesday April 29th seems the next logical target now. Kopek Des Bordes looks an outstanding prospect and will likely be attempting to give Mullins a record-extending 11th win in this Grade 1 event, following in the footsteps of stars like Hurricane Fly, Faugheen, Douvan, Klassical Dream, Facile Vega and Mystical Power. Quilixios Marine Nationale was a very impressive winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase in the Cotswolds, an emotional and fitting scorer, but Quilixios was the biggest danger to him for Darragh O'Keefe and Henry De Bromhead before he fell at the last jump. Marine Nationale has already had by far the busiest season of his career to date. Barry Connell believes the best is still to come but, even so, it would be no shock if he's put away for his summer break early. Quilixios hasn't always proved the easiest horse to predict but this was shaping up to be a career-best effort from him and it will be very interesting to see how he builds on it. Gaelic Warrior Last year's Arkle winner skipped the Cheltenham Festival this time around, with Mullins seemingly uncertain of Gaelic Warrior's well-being following his disappointing DRF run. It's likely he'll be seen in Ireland next during the spring and could it be that he will tackle the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup on Wednesday 30th April? Gaelic Warrior was a three-mile hurdles winner at this meeting in 2023 but has yet to tackle that far as a chaser. There's a decent chance Gold Cup runner-up Galopin Des Champs will get an extended summer break, so could Rich Ricci's star be a surprise contender for this €300,000 race? Constitution Hill A faller in the Champion Hurdle, Nicky Henderson's star has shed his air of invincibility but does remain unbowed when standing up, at least. The Seven Barrows supremo suggested in the immediate aftermath of that spill that Punchestown and the Boodles Champion Hurdle on Friday May 1st would be next up, where a rematch with final flight faller State Man as well as Mares' Hurdle scorer Lossiemouth would whet the appetite. After some thinking time, Henderson has since told the Racing Post: "Punchestown is still being considered and he seems very well, and I'm not going to rule anything in or out, but he'll definitely run again this season." Surely he can't be backing down already, can he? Ballyburn Redemption will be on the agenda for Ballyburn should he turn up in the Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase on the opening evening at Punchestown. Patrick Mullins has suggested the favourite 'munched the open ditch in the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase' at Cheltenham in a race where he never truly looked comfortable, but the Closutton thinker went on to add he's 'still a believer' in Ronnie Bartlett's star. Connections almost certainly won't want to sign off the season on that downer and this Grade 1 novice over three miles looks like an ideal spot for some reputation rebuilding to be done. Get €50 in FREE bets with TalkSPORT BET:
