Day one of the Punchestown Festival looms large on Tuesday with a sprinkling of Grade 1 action supplemented by some cracking handicaps.

The Grade 1s include the William Hill Champion Chase as Marine Nationale and Fact To File go head-to-head in a blockbuster tussle, but we're focusing on the handicaps earlier on the card with some selections fancied to go well on day one at peerless Punchestown.

Punchetown Handicap Tips

Novibet Punchestown Betting Offer

Kilta ready to rise for Team England

With €60,000 on offer to the winner, this Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series Final Handicap Hurdle is a valuable opening handicap of the week.

Willie Mullins retaining the trainers' championship in Britain has provided plenty of discourse on the state of National Hunt racing in the UK, but it's hugely encouraging to find that 10 of this 28-runner line-up have made the journey across the Irish Sea.

The likes of Nicky Henderson, Jonjo O'Neill and Lucinda Russell are represented, along with a few more, but it's a rare Irish runner for Sam and Jonathan England that gets the nod.

The married couple have sent over KILTA from their Manor Farm base and a big run could be incoming.

The eight-year-old has been consistent over fences for the last 12 months, despite failing to add to his win at Cartmel in May 2024, and he made a pleasing return to hurdling at Wetherby (2m5½f, good) last month when finishing second behind Blue Hop in a qualifier for this race.

Both the Ben Brookhouse-trained winner and Kilta have turned up here and the runner-up is 5lb better off for a 4¼-length beating.

Kilta was running over timber for the first time in a year and should be sharper for that outing. That was only his seventh start over hurdles in his career. He's on a nice mark if he can match his best chasing form and he's one of the more interesting outsiders in a deeply competitive field.

Derham's Ascending Lark to go well again

The second handicap on the card follows immediately and it is the Listed Killashee Hotel Handicap Hurdle over an extended two miles, this time with a handsome €30,000 going to the winner.

Last season's Fred Winter scorer, Lark In The Morning, is a contender for Joseph O'Brien, while Hunters Yarn is interesting now reverting to hurdles for the Mullins yard.

Another British handler could thrive here, with Harry Derham saddling both Brentford Hope and ASCENDING LARK.

The former is rated 140, now 3lb lower than when finishing second behind Daddy Long Legs in this race 12 months ago. He has some notable runs in graded company in Britain this season.

However, off a mark of 127 and with stable jockey Paul O'Brien in his corner, Ascending Lark gets the nod. The mare has won all five starts over hurdles so far and remains unbeaten for this trainer.

She ran in three bumpers on Irish soil in 2023 for her previous connections and can make a triumphant return for a young trainer with an upwardly mobile profile.

She has been doing things nicely in her recent wins at Newcastle, Exeter and Ludlow and acts on any surface, which is a bonus. This is a rise in class for her but a mark of 127 should prove well within her scope and it doesn't appear as though her trainer has got to the bottom of her yet.