The Punchestown Festival gets underway on Tuesday and it is a jam-packed five days of exceptional racing with 12 Grade 1s and 40 races in total.

Top jockey and Betway ambassador Paul Townend has taken a look at his Tuesday rides ahead of one of his favourite weeks of the year..

It is also a festival which Punters enjoy when, after a long hard season, shock winners, along with decent odds are often on offer.

HANDICAP HURDLE

I have four really good rides to kick us off on Day 1, and we start with Murcia in the Listed Handicap Hurdle.

Getting off Karbau wasn’t easy because he’s a talented horse, and it might come back to bite me on the backside, but I’ve won a Grade 1 on Murcia and I think she’ll really enjoy the spring ground.

Things haven’t quite gone her way so far this season, but I have a lot of faith in Murcia and if she gets a clear round, then I could see her running a big race.

Anna McGuinness claims 7lb off Karbau’s back, and that could actually be a big help to him because he does have to shoulder his fair share of weight.

It wasn’t a straightforward decision, because as I say, he’s a horse with plenty of ability, but I’m just hoping I’ve made the right choice.

Another horse just to give quick mention to is Davy Crockett, because he looked like he had a huge future ahead of him in the summer but he’s just been a shade disappointing.

He does need to get back on track, but off a mark of 126 on better ground, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if he was able to run a big race.

CHAMPION NOVICE HURDLE

I’m then really looking forward to riding Sober in the Champion Novice Hurdle, and I think the underfoot conditions are going to suit him down to the ground.

He’s a class horse, and I think the cheekpieces and the smaller field are really going to help him, too.

His best piece of form so far over hurdles came here in the Moscow Flyer, and he’s back down to that trip, so everything is in his favour.

He will need to do everything right, which he isn’t guaranteed to do, but he’s the classiest horse in the race in my opinion, and I think he goes there with a big chance. El Cairos has shown a lot of ability, but he did disappoint in the Supreme, and Skylight Hustle was far too keen before coming down in the Turners, so most of them have a few questions to answer going into this race.

CHAMPION NOVICE CHASE

It’s then Kitzbuhel in the Champion Novice Chase, and I’m delighted to be back on board following his win at Cheltenham in the Brown Advisory.

Even though he’s had a busy season, he probably comes here fresher than some of the others, with plenty of them showing up at Fairyhouse and Aintree.

Other than when I fell off him at Sandown, Kitzbuhel’s had an unbelievable season, and going right-handed can only help him.

His work at home since Cheltenham has been good and he sets the standard on what he’s achieved so far, so he’s probably the one they’ll all have to beat.

I thought Predator’s Gold was going to go on and win at Fairyhouse, so he’d have a big chance if showing up in similar form, but he does have to leave a heavy fall behind him only three weeks ago.

There wouldn’t be much between him and Kappa Jy Pyke, and they are both capable of running big races, but Kitzbuhel has achieved more than any of them and goes there fresh so it was a pretty easy decision to ride him.

CHAMPION CHASE

We finish on Tuesday with arguably one of the races of the week in the Champion Chase, and with Il Etait Temps, Marine Nationale, and Majborough taking each other on, it really is a mouthwatering clash.

Il Etait Temps has a lot of wins to his name, and he put up a huge performance to win the Queen Mother at the Cheltenham Festival. He’ll probably have to run to a similar level to win this because Marine Nationale is a huge performer at this level, and he comes here fresh having skipped Cheltenham. You go through Il Etit Temp’s recent form, though, and other than at Ascot in January, he’s been hugely consistent, so it’s hard to get away from him.

Majborough is a bit of an enigma because he has tonnes of ability, but I’m not sure whether he’ll be seen to best effect going right-handed, and I think he’d prefer a bit of cut in the ground. We all know how good he is on his day, though, so you certainly can’t rule him out.

This is right up there with any race you’ll see during the week, but I wouldn’t swap Il Etais Temps for anything, and it’s going to take a serious performance to stop him if he runs to the level he did at Cheltenham.