Punchestown Gold Cup

The Punchestown Gold Cup, sponsored by Guinness, is a Grade 1 conditions chase run over three miles and one furlong at the Punchestown festival in April. It is considered to be the feature race of the five-day festival and is usually run on the second day. The 2010 race will be held on Wednesday, April 21.

Punchestown Gold Cup

Originally known as the Punchestown Heineken Gold Cup, the race was first run in 1960 when it was won by Oberstown. Arkle, regarded as the best steeplechaser of all time, won in 1963 for trainer Tom Dreaper, who went on to establish the best record in the race by winning three of the next four runnings, all with different horses. Dreaper's other winners were Fort Leney (1964), Crown Prince (1966) and White Abbess (1967).

Arkle went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup (1964, 1965 and 1966) and so did Fort Leney (the 1968 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner) and 1970 winner Glencaraig Lady, who won at Cheltenham in 1972. Imperial Call, the 1999 winner, had won the Cheltenham Gold Cup three years earlier.

The only horses to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Punchestown Gold Cup in the same season are Kicking King (2005) and War Of Attrition (2006).

Punchestown, home of the Punchestown Gold Cup

The first recorded race meeting was held at Punchestown, County Kildare, in 1824 and the right-handed course quickly became established as one of the premier jump racing tracks in Ireland, attracting crowds in excess of 100,000 by the 1860s. Nowadays it is best known as the venue for the five-day Punchestown festival in April, which is regarded as the Irish equivalent of the Cheltenham Festival (held in March). 

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