Punchestown tips: Sir Gerhard can strike gold against Kilcruit

Sir Gerhard and Rachael Blackmore won the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham last month. Picture: Healy Racing.

The renewal of rivalry between Sir Gerhard and Kilcruit in the Grade 1 ITM – Supporting Irish Store Sales Champion Bumper is a great compliment to the day’s feature, the Punchestown Gold Cup, and Sir Gerhard can uphold the Cheltenham Champion Bumper form with his stablemate.

The Cheltenham race was run at a modest pace and it’s fair to say Rachael Blackmore gave the winner a clever ride from the front. Kilcruit stayed on strongly to close the gap significantly in the closing stages but there are plenty of reasons to believe the winner can be more authoritative today.