Saturday is the fifth and final day of the Punchestown Festival and there are two Grade 1 races to look forward to across the eight-race card.

Among them is the SBK Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle, which is run over an extended 2m4f and is open to fillies and mares aged four and upwards.

Willie Mullins has dominated the race in recent years but old rival Gordon Elliott could be the one lifting the trophy this time around.

Only six runners have been declared and Mullins trains three of them, but our expert has picked out two strong fancies that can challenge his dominance.

Mares Hurdle Runners and odds

Mares Hurdle Tips

Selection: Brighterdaysahead @ 4/9 with BoyleSports

Next Best: July Flower @ 12/1 with BoyleSports

Odds courtesy of BoyleSports and correct at the time of publishing

BoyleSports Punchestown Betting Offer

Willie Mullins is 8/10 and trains half the field

This race has been kind to Willie Mullins in recent years and he has won eight out of the last 10 renewals. It may have been a different story had Lossiemouth lined up but without her, his three runners appear to be very beatable.

Jade De Grugy was second behind Lossiemouth in the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and is entitled to be in the mix once again, but she is probably vulnerable to a bonafide Grade 1 horse, such as Gordon Elliott’s Brighterdaysahead.

Gala Marceau is solid enough and ran well to finish second in a Grade 2 at Fairyhouse last time but she is also a notch or two below Elliott’s mare. Lot Of Joy is the outsider of the field and it’s tricky to make a case for her.

British raider Wyenot also has a significant amount of improvement to find but Henry de Bromhead’s July Flower could be interesting.

Brighterdaysahead can have her day in the sun

BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD got the better of State Man in the Morgiana Hurdle at this course earlier in the season and followed that up with a 30-length demolition job in the Neville Hotels Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas. State Man could only finish third that day and he had no answer to her performance.

Her very underwhelming display in the Champion Hurdle was therefore a real head-scratcher, as she never really looked comfortable at any point and faded tamely on the run-in. You can put a line through that performance though as she’s clearly better than that.

The step back up in trip should prove to be a huge positive, as she won a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Aintree over a similar trip in very good style last season. Connections have decided to swerve the Grade 1 two-mile hurdle in favour of this and it’s easy to see why.

July Flower can bloom for Henry de Bromhead

Henry de Bromhead’s JULY FLOWER was a Grade 1 performer in France and she made the perfect start to her career in Ireland when winning a Grade 3 at Leopardstown in December.

She was held up in the early stages but made good progress to take up the lead approaching the omitted last flight and won by four lengths going away at the finish. That performance is up there with much of Jade De Grugy’s form and De Bromhead’s mare is much better value.

Getting a little outpaced turning for home in the Mares’ Hurdle, she’ll want this to be a thorough test of stamina and is likely to thrive if that is the case.