Punchestown predictably unpredictable but Willie Mullins still in ascendancy
18-1 shot Irancy and Mark Walsh won the KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle (Grade 1) for Willie Mullins. Pic: Healy Racing
It’s Punchestown, it’s end-of-season, it’s expectedly unpredictable, and the opening day of the 2025 meeting was certainly all of that, as the track welcomed 17,842 patrons. A 22-1 winner was followed by one at 50-1, then there was a little levity when an 8-1 shot prevailed, before two of the three Grade Ones returned huge upsets at odds of 18-1 and 22-1.
What was much more predictable was that, despite those odds, Willie Mullins was in the ascendancy, winning two Grade Ones, and adding the valuable Goffs Defender Bumper to complete a 7,428-1 treble.
