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Bookies Saddle Up for €50 Million Punchestown Festival
20/04/10
Bookies William Hill estimate Irish punters will splash out around €50 million at this week’s Punchestown Festival. The event, which has been dubbed the ‘Irish Cheltenham’, gets underway today with Irish racing fans expected to bet close to €10 million on each of the five days of the Festival.
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Some of the equine stars expected to line up at this year’s Festival include the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman, this year’s Irish Independent Arkle winner Sizing Europe, and Willie Mullins’ duel Cheltenham winner Quevega.
Dunguib, who was regarded as the ‘Irish banker’ going into this year’s Cheltenham Festival, will be aiming to rebuild his reputation in the Rabobank Champion Hurdle on Friday. It was estimated that Irish punters lost over €5 million on Dunguib at Cheltenham – so it’ll be interesting to see if they are willing to place their faith in him again.
It will take more than volcanic ash to stop Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary attending this year’s festival. The airline mogul will be at Punchestown to cheer on his 2006 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition. The eleven year-old, who has won close to €800,000 for his connections during his seven year racing career, will make his final racecourse appearance in the Guinness Gold Cup on Wednesday.
One notable absentee from this year’s Festival will be Ruby Walsh. The six-time Irish champion jockey will be out of action for around two months after he broke his arm at the Aintree Grand National meeting.
Rising star Paul Townend, who will take Ruby’s place on the majority of the Willie Mullins trained horses, is rated the 13-8 favourite by William Hill to be crowned the top jockey at this year’s Festival.
William Hill’s Irish spokesman Tony Kenny commented “Punchestown is the grand finale of the Irish National Hunt season, and we’re expecting some show stopping performances at this year’s Festival.” He continued “The recession has hit the betting industry in Ireland, but the big Festival’s like Punchestown and Cheltenham seem to buck the trend. Twelve months ago Irish punters bet close to €50 million on the Punchestown Festival , and we’re expecting betting turnover to be at least on par with last year’s event. ”
