Punchestown review
Place De La Nation upstaged her two more high-profile rivals when she landed the SBK Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle, the feature race on the fifth and final day of the 2026 Punchestown Festival yesterday.
The race was billed as a re-match between Wodhooh and Jade De Grugy. They had finished first and second in the Mares Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March, just a length between them, and the main question during the preamble was – different day, different track – whether or not Jade De Grugy could turn the form around.
Not many were asking whether or not Place De La Nation could beat them both.
Some 80 minutes before Wodhooh and Jade De Grugy fought out the finish of the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, Place De La Nation had put up probably the best performance of her career up to that point in finishing third in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. And the Gigginstown House Stud’s mare stepped up on that when she went to Fairyhouse three and a half weeks ago and finished second to the redoubtable Zanoush in the Honeysuckle Hurdle.
But this was a step up again, a step out of novice company into open company and taking on two of the best mares in the business.
Danny Mullins rode her cold. He set off in third place, let the two protagonists at it up front. Jade De Grugy led initially, Wodhooh up on her outside, not allowing her too much leeway. As they raced up past the stands with a circuit to go, Jack Kennedy allowed Wodhooh roll up on the outside of Jade De Grugy.
All the while Danny Mullins stalked in behind on Place De La Nation. She raced in her rhythm at a respectful distance, but close enough to strike a blow if the opportunity arose. Over the fourth last and Wodhooh eased into a definite lead and bagged the inside rail. At the same time, Place De La Nation closed up so that she was just about three lengths behind the leader.
And all of a sudden, as they turned for home, it had morphed from a two-horse race into a three-horse race. The three mares were just about in a line as they jumped the final flight, there was barely a neck between the three of them, but Place De La Nation had momentum up. As soon as she got to the landing side, Danny Mullins got low and asked her for her effort and, when he did, Willie Mullins’ mare stretched her neck out. She hit the front half-way up the run-in, and she extended away to win by a length and a half in the end.
“I thought she had a good chance,” Danny Mullins told Racing TV afterwards. “She had a good run in Cheltenham, and she backed it up in Fairyhouse. Her form was good, so you never know. Riding one of Willie Mullins’, you’re coming here with a chance.”
Tactics were key.
“We weren’t sure who was going to make (the running). My filly was a little bit cold in the beginning, but she warmed into it quite nicely. Everyone was waiting to pull the trigger, and thankfully my filly was the quickest down the straight. Wodhooh and Jade De Grugy, they’re serious mares, my one was all potential coming in here. So I tried to play the tactics right in a small field like that, and thankfully it came together in the end for me.”
The other Grade 1 race on the day, the Ballymore Four-Year-Old Champion Hurdle, was won by Saratoga, another horse who was stepping up in grade.
An impressive winner of the Fred Winter Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, the Padraig Roche-trained gelding had to prove that he could take his place in Grade 1 company over hurdles. His trainer had every confidence that he could and, a talented horse on the flat when he was trained by Aidan O’Brien, he took the step up in grade in his stride, to provide his trainer with the first Grade 1 win of his career.
Settled nicely by rider Mark Walsh through the early stages of the race, JP McManus’ horse made good ground around the outside as they rounded the home turn. He hit the front early in the home straight, and he stayed on well over the last and up the run-in to put almost four lengths between himself and his closest pursuer by the time he hit the winning line. And as he did, there was a subtle punch of the air from Mark Walsh.
“You don’t often ride Grade 1 winners for your best friends,” said the rider. “That was brilliant. I started with Christy Roche (trainer Padraig’s father) when I was 15. Christy sent the two of us down to Aidan (O’Brien)’s for a summer. We learned a lot but we had loads of craic at the same time.”
It was a fifth Grade 1 win of the season for Mark Walsh, and it was a week to remember for the rider, who notched up the 900th win of his career to date when he rode Dinoblue to victory in the Grade 2 Glencarraig Lady Francis Flood Mares Chase on Friday.
“I had a lovely position the whole way,” he said of his victory on Saratoga. “He jumped well, he just missed the first down the back, so I pulled him out for a little bit of light, and he jumped brilliant from then on. He stays all day, so I wasn’t going to let it turn into a sprint. I sent him on in the straight, and he galloped all the way to the line.”
It was a memorable week at Punchestown, the final act in a memorable National Hunt season. The presentations were made to the champions by Martin Heydon, Minster for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Willie Mullins was crowned champion trainer again, a 20th title in total and his 19th in a row, once again amassing enough prize money during the Punchestown Festival to catch and pass Gordon Elliott, who had a fantastic season himself.
The battle for the jockeys’ championship went all the way to the final day. The treble that Darragh O’Keeffe rode on Thursday took him to within three winners of Jack Kennedy, but he couldn't get any closer, and Jack Kennedy was crowned champion National Hunt jockey for the second time.
Kennedy rode 12 Grade 1 winners this season, and he broke through the 100-winner mark in Ireland when he rode a double at Kilbeggan last Friday, which is a fantastic achievement for any jockey in an Irish National Hunt season, especially considering that he missed the early part of the season through injury. Darragh O’Keeffe ended the season with 99 winners, but he has had a tremendous season too, his first as first jockey to Henry de Bromhead after Rachael Blackmore’s retirement from the saddle last May.
Patrick Mullins, who went through the 900-winner mark himself earlier this season, was crowned champion amateur rider for the 18th time, and he was ably assisted by his daughter Wynter in receiving his trophy from the Minister, and JP McManus was crowned champion owner for the 23rd time. Jody Townend retained her title as champion lady rider, her sixth title on the spin, and Eoin Staples was crowned champion conditional jockey – he collected his trophy with his arm in a sling after a fall at Punchestown on Thursday – with 33 winners, three more than Michael Kenneally, who chased him all the way into the dying embers of the season.
© The Sunday Times, 3rd May 2026
Back