); Mullins had his 15th championship in the bag before Punchestown but it didn’t stop him dominating
Donn McClean takes a look back at the 2021 Punchestown Festival and Willie Mullins’ 19-winner haul. By Donn McClean Tuesday 4 May 2021, 7:00 AM 3 hours ago 1,575 Views 1 Comment
GOING INTO THE Punchestown Festival in 2018, one week to go in the 2017/18 Irish National Hunt season, and Willie Mullins trailed Gordon Elliott by over €500,000 in the trainers’ championship.
You knew that Willie Mullins would be strong at Punchestown but, even so, it was a fair gap, and the bookmakers made Gordon Elliott favourite to claim his first title.
By Placepot Pointers@ToteRacing
By The Tote Team www.tote.co.uk
Thereâs a feast of jumps action in Ireland to get stuck into on Tuesday, as the Punchestown Festival kicks off.
Whatâs more, weâll be running Placepot Insurance on the card, so if your bet goes down in the first leg, weâll refund your stake up to £10. T&Cs apply.
And always, make sure you bet with Tote for the best Placepot value. Tote+ means your dividend will be 10% bigger when you bet directly with us.
The Big Trend:
A 25-runner handicap hurdle is enough to strike fear into the heart of any Placepot player, and thatâs the task at hand in Leg 3 (16:50), so itâs always worth referring to the trends and statistics to narrow the field. This a race in which those near the top of the weights tend to struggle, with seven of the last ten winners carrying 10-8 or less. Itâs also a race in which it can pay to look outside right at the top of the betting, with only one of the last ten
UPDATED 2:40PM, APR 27 2021
An unraced four-year-old trained by Willie Mullins has slipped into the closing bumper (7.35) at Punchestown on Tuesday as a first reserve and been heavily backed.
It is yet to be confirmed who will take the ride on the Ballylinch Stud-owned
Glowing Account, who has tumbled into a general 2-1 shot (from 7) since his place in the race was finalised.
Glowing Account s stablemate Hara Kiri, who was favourite until this morning s market move, has Patrick Mullins aboard but will need to settle better than when finishing third at Gowran Park in January.
Elsewhere, the money is coming for Allaho before his clash with stablemate Chacun Pour Soi in today s William Hill Champion Chase (5.25) at Punchestown.
They took the first upsides at breakneck speed and it continued thereafter.
Allaho led marginally over the second under Blackmore, then Chacun Poir Soi took the third and fourth in front as Townend switched his mount outside. It was like watching two flyweight boxers exchange a flurry of early punches.
As Allaho began to feel the pinch on his first start at the minimum trip over fences, First Flow was then squeezed on to Chacun Pour Soi’s shoulder, with Nube Negra watching them all they way on the inner under Harry Skelton. One thing is for sure, there would be no freebies here.