Punters sprint to witness wonder horse

The presence of National Hunt phenomenon, Sprinter Sacre, boosted opening day numbers at the Punchestown festival to record levels.

Bright sunshine lured the glamorous and the gawkers to the Kildare venue, with 18,607 patrons paying to savour the splendour of the weather and the anticipated procession for unbeaten Sprinter Sacre in the day’s big race, the Boylesports.com Champion Chase.

However, trainer Nicky Henderson admitted his wonder horse had to dig deeper than ever to overcome his old adversary Sizing Europe.

Indeed, a hat-trick at Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown was last achieved in 1999 by Istabraq, for many the greatest hurdler of all time.