Is Punchestown's Flat revamp an affront to jumps purists or a prudent move?

It was in these pages in 2017 that Kevin Prendergast lambasted how one of the best racecourses in Ireland lay idle for months on end.

“We're too busy organising rock concerts there instead of racing during the summer,” boomed the effervescent octogenarian. “It’s madness that we aren’t utilising our better tracks.”

Prendergast was referring to Punchestown, and the blast from his Curragh incendiary reverberated 20km up the M7. Richie Galway, then racing manager at the Kildare venue, told the Racing Post the following week officials at the track were keen to explore the prospect of reviving Flat racing at the track for a first time since 2002. Last September, that moment came to pass.