Punchestown excited about staging first Flat fixture since 2002 on Thursday

There will not be any paying spectators at Punchestown on Thursday but the track's chief executive, Conor O'Neill, is excited and grateful for the chance to host Flat action at the course for the first time in almost 18 years.

The prospect of Flat racing being held at Punchestown was mooted in 2017, and again earlier this year, with Horse Racing Ireland scheduling Thursday's meeting when the revised fixture list was revealed in June.

Officials at Punchestown requested the meeting, which was subject to satisfactory trial gallops over the proposed track layout in advance.

The home of roughly a quarter of top-level Irish jumps races, Punchestown last played host to a Flat card on October 17, 2002, a fixture at which subsequent Arlington Million and Tattersalls Gold Cup hero Powerscourt survived a stewards' inquiry to open his account at the third attempt.

Another high-profile Ballydoyle performer, dual Derby and Breeders' Cup scorer High Chaparral, was second on his debut at Punchestown the previous year.

High Chaparral and Johnny Murtagh pulling clear of Hawk Wing at Epsom in 2002Credit: Edward Whitaker

The return fixture has been well supported, with each of the top eight trainers in this year's Flat championship represented on Thursday, with the €23,500 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Handicap (3.55) a competitive feature event.

"We're very excited to have Flat racing back at Punchestown, it's something we're very much looking forward to," said O'Neill. "We're very grateful for the opportunity provided to us by Horse Racing Ireland and everyone involved.

"We held trials on the course here last Tuesday and the riders involved were very positive about it. It's fantastic that the meeting has been well supported by some of the leading stables in the country."

Punchestown lost significant revenue this year when its popular spring festival, which saw 126,840 attend in 2019, was cancelled amid the Covid-19 sporting shutdown earlier this year.

"The concerns around racecourses have been well aired and we're obviously delighted to have our first fixtures since February here this week," said O'Neill.

"We're very happy to be returning and have a busy schedule over the coming months so hopefully everything will go smoothly and we can continue to keep racing throughout."

Jump racing will return to Punchestown promptly, though, with the first of 13 fixtures scheduled between now and the end of the year fixed for next Tuesday.

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