Punchestown is the home of Irish National Hunt racing and the Festival brings together the best horses from both sides of the Irish Sea for a week of thrills and spills. With four Grade One winners trained in the UK, the 2007 Festival was a great success for the British, but how well will they fare in 2009?

Naas is an historic town that has matured through the years to become one of Ireland’s more cosmopolitan centres. The local thoroughbred industry produces the finest racehorses in the world and this has led, over the years, to the establishment of three major racecourses in this area.

Racing in Ireland is unique and for atmosphere, sheer enjoyment and what the locals call the "craic", there is nowhere to beat it! The five days of racing are of exceptionally high quality and, for some, the Festival runs a very close second to Cheltenham. We are delighted to offer you the opportunity to attend this historic festival race meeting where you will witness the best week of National Hunt racing in Ireland.

In 2007, on the first day of the Festival, the Grade 1 “VC.com Champion Novice Hurdle”, was won by Clopf. Mansony, who clinched victory from Justified. The “Ellier Developments Champion Novice Chase” was won by Offshore Account.

The second day of the Festival hosted the Grade 1 “Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup” which saw the youngest horse in the line-up Neptune Collonges win convincingly from Kingscliff in a race where British stables provided four of the first five home.

Day three and the Grade 1 “Ballymore Properties Champion 4 y-o Hurdle” was won by Nicky Hendersons’ Punjabi in a close finish with Financial Reward.

On the final day, the “ACC Bank Champion Hurdle” was a tightly contested race with 20-1 outsider Silent Oscar the winner by a neck from Macs Joy and Hardy Eustace. The promising Glencove Marina won the “Land Rover Champion Novice Hurdle”, the final Grade 1 race of the week. At the time of publication the 2008 Punchestown Festival had yet to be run.