Punchestown Festival to get underway

The Punchestown Racing Festival gets underway this afternoon, with most of the top English raiders expected to take their places in the field despite the travel restrictions over the last few days.

Officials at the Co Kildare course say that all of the big name English trainers have gone out of their way to ensure that their charges made the trip by boat to be involved at this year's festival, although there will be concerns about how many racing fans will have been able to follow them across the Irish Sea.