Will the final chapter in compelling tale of redemption end with a Boum?

The final chapter in one of the most gripping tales of redemption ever written could be penned at Punchestown on Wednesday, and the setting for the closing scene could not be more apt. We are back where it all began.

The year is 2018, the last Tuesday in April to be precise. You are Paul Townend, the second-choice rider at Willie Mullins' stable who has been hoisted into the hotseat after Ruby Walsh breaks his leg at Cheltenham the previous month. You are the one trusted to give your boss a 12th trainers' title.

The Growise Champion Novice Chase is yours for the taking as you scamper a few lengths clear on Al Boum Photo after the second-last. Victory would see Mullins close the gap on Gordon Elliott to a manageable amount.

You hear a shout. You have a split-second to make a decision. You choose the wrong option. You bypass the last. You should have jumped it. Elliott trains the first three home. You are ridiculed on social media.

The year is now 2019, the first Wednesday in May. You are Paul Townend, still the second-choice rider for Mullins, but in a few days' time you will be crowned champion jockey for the second time.

Last month you gave your boss the best present of all, ending his 20-year wait to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Here you return to the scene of the crime on the same horse who caused you all those sleepless nights, hoping to sugarcoat the most stunning season of your career.

Victory for Townend and Al Boum Photo in the Coral Puchestown Gold Cup (6.05) would be a fitting end to a fantastic season for both. It will be anything but straightforward, though. Two of your Closutton classmates want to spoil it all.

Kemboy's Cheltenham voyage ended before he left the dock, falling at the first in the Gold Cup, but he was awesome at Aintree and that brilliant Bowl display has seen his rating rise to 174, just 1lb shy of Al Boum Photo.

To make matters more complicated Bellshill is also among the eight runners. He's last year's winner who won the Irish Gold Cup in February and the horse Walsh chose over Al Boum Photo and Kemboy at Cheltenham.

Kemboy: fell at the first fence in the Gold Cup but was impressive subsequently at AintreeCredit: Edward Whitaker

An uncharacteristically poor jumping display put paid to his chances there, but he didn't become a bad horse overnight.

In contrast, Minella Indo has become an overnight sensation and victory in the first Grade 1 of the day, the Irish Daily Mirror Novice Hurdle (5.30), would prove his 50-1 shock in the Albert Bartlett was no fluke.

It's a hot race, however, with Allaho and Commander Of Fleet renewing rivalry from Cheltenham, and don't forget Carefully Selected either. It's tricky to solve. So too is the Racing Post-sponsored Champion Bumper (6.40).

We should not be surprised. It is the Punchestown festival after all. When the Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite is not even favourite to win the Punchestown equivalent, that tells you all you need to know.

Over to you, Al Boum Photo. Now's the time to prove you are the best staying chaser in the business.

Seconds out for round three

Minella Indo and Allaho, first and second favourite for the Irish Daily Mirror Novice Hurdle (5.30) at Punchestown, will clash for a third time.

Minella Indo: renews rivalry with old foe AllahoCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Allaho easily had the measure of Henry de Bromhead's charge when the pair met in a Grade 3 at Clonmel in mid-February, scoring by four lengths, but that form was reversed in spectacular fashion in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham. On that occasion Minella Indo finished nine lengths ahead of Allaho, who could finish only third.

So which form do you trust most? Clonmel or Cheltenham? The choice is yours.

Mullins on Champion Bumper mission

There is no Envoi Allen in the Racing Post App Champion Flat Race (6.40) but there are still some very promising youngsters in action and Willie Mullins, who has won six of the last eight runnings, is triple-handed with Mt Leinster, Golden Spread and Colreevy.

The fact that Mullins' son Patrick has opted for Mt Leinster is worth noting as he was successful on Lovethehigherlaw in 2011, Champagne Fever in 2012 and Bellshill in 2015.

Jamie Codd: has a rare ride on Colreevy for Willie MullinsCredit: Patrick McCann

Jamie Codd, who usually teams up with Gordon Elliott in bumpers, has a rare ride for Mullins as he will be on Colreevy.

Codd and Mullins did win the race together in 2014 with Shaneshill.

Intrigue all over the shop

Perhaps the only thing missing from Royal Ascot Trials Day – as Wednesday's meeting at Ascot has been rebranded and reshaped – is ITV Racing coverage. It's a belting card, surely better than Ascot could have dreamt, and repeats of Kojak, Quincy ME and Minder may be under pressure on ITV4 come this time next year.

Wesley Ward's first runner in Europe this year, Lady Aurelia's juvenile half-sister Lady Pauline, kicks off proceedings. We then have a strong three-year-old conditions heat, Verdana Blue and Dee Ex Bee in the Sagaro Stakes, Calyx and Signora Cabello in the Pavilion Stakes, and Barney Roy in the Paradise Stakes. Paradise indeed.

In addition to the action on the track, six former racehorses, including Sovereign Debt, take part in a parade to highlight the versatility of racehorses in adapting to other equine disciplines.

The former Ruth Carr-trained Sovereign Debt, now ten, was retired from racing last summer and has qualified for the Retraining of Racehorses National Championships at Aintree in August.

Calyx out to show his speed

John Gosden has resisted the temptation of running Calyx at Newmarket in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas on Saturday, despite Too Darn Hot's late setback. Instead, the Coventry winner makes his first start as a three-year-old in the Commonwealth Cup Trial Stakes (3.55) at Ascot.

Calyx: the impressive Coventry Stakes winner makes his seasonal reappearanceCredit: Edward Whitaker

No horse has managed to complete the double of this race – better known as the Pavilion Stakes and the Commonwealth Cup in its short history – but last year's runner-up, Eqtidaar, did go one better in the big one at Royal Ascot last summer.

Blue Point was successful in this Group 3 in 2017, while Limato is another household name to have won it. He did the business in 2015.

Should Calyx extend his unbeaten record to two from three and see off Prix Morny runner-up Signora Cabello in the process, he would be expected to return to the track in mid-June for the Commonwealth Cup as a red-hot favourite, even if connections insist stepping up to a mile for the St James's Palace is the current intention.

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