Everything to play for and everything to lose - a Punchestown finale to savour

It is difficult to think any card could lose an A-list clash between Appreciate It and Bob Olinger and still whet the senses like Punchestown's opening salvo.

Sure, the prospect of that particular irresistible force and immovable object novice hurdling duel being delayed until Friday, rather than lost completely, softened the blow, but there is enough compensation elsewhere on Tuesday's spread to render the future a mere triviality.

It is a neat distillation of the brilliantly evocative, unadulterated nature of this five-day finale's concentration of absorbing themes and subplots.