Thursday 28th April 2022

Author: Jordan Yates (EvRacing_)

Punchestown Festival 2022

Welcome to the Day 3 preview for the 2022 Punchestown Festival where I’m kicking things off with the 3:40 which is a handicap hurdle that’s contested over two miles. In this fiercely competitive contest I’ve taken a chance on Broomfield Hall for the Dempsey duo who’s currently trading at best price of 10/1. She had been posting a string of solid efforts before getting her head in-front at Naas at the end of March, when she was last seen on track. It’s likely that there could be more progression to come from her and she’s every chance of getting involved here off this current mark.

Next up is the 4:15 which is another handicap this time a handicap chase but again over two miles. I’m siding with Mt Leinster here who’s currently a 4/1 chance for Willie Mullins and Danny Mullins. He arrives here in great form having won his last two outings over fences, having started to look a bit frustrating in the early parts of the campaign. His combined winning distance of his last two wins comes in at eighteen lengths, with the most recent of those coming at Fairyhouse just 11 days ago where he beat Bold Emperor by five lengths. He’s a horse that they’ve always thought highly of at Closutton and there’s no saying where the ceiling to his ability is, he could well have more to offer.

I’m turning my attention to the 6:00 now and it’s more handicap company, this time a handicap hurdle that’s contested over two miles and seven and a half furlongs. I’ve tried my hand with two in this with it being so competitive, the first of which comes in the form of Festival D’ex at 14/1 for Gordon Elliott and Davy Russell. He was promising in his earlier days as a hurdler and has recently started to find his feet within handicap company, posting a string of fair efforts lately among competitive fields. There should be more progression to come from him and I think he should be considered a big player for this. The second horse I quite like here is Silver Sheen who’s a 20/1 chance for Jessica Harrington and Robbie Power. He hasn’t been in the winners enclosure for some time now, January 2020 to be exact when he won a handicap at Warwick, and since then he’s not showed much at all. That was until his most recent effort at Fairyhouse just ten days ago, where he chased home Capliano Bridge at Fairyhouse and finished second by just over two lengths. If building on that effort here he’s still on quite a workable mark and clearly has ability as he’s shown in the past. It’s quite a tentative alliance to say the least but he’s certainly not without a chance on old form and the return to form he showed last time.