Packed stands at Punchestown© Photo Healy Racing
There was a record-breaking 114,438 attendance for Punchestown last week and with 30,035 on Saturday’s ‘Family Day’ and a 29,419 ‘Ladies Day’ crowd on Friday there appears to be a trend towards people congregating at Ireland’s National Hunt festival towards the weekend. That begs the question as to whether or not a trick is being missed in not maximising that trend and finishing the festival on a Sunday.
Punchestown’s authorities have indicated they have no desire to extend to a sixth day, principally on the basis that they don’t want to dilute their product. That’s a good instinct. But keeping the festival at five days, and finishing on a Sunday, merely requires starting 24 hours later which hardly represents a logistical nightmare and could maximise the impact of the event even more.
Sunday is Irish racing’s principal day after all, except yesterday it was filled by a mundane Sligo flat card which was mostly notable only for its presence in between jump racing’s climax and a good quality flat Bank Holiday flat card at the Curragh. Yes, many jumping fans take pride in not darkening the doors of HQ, or any other flat fixture, but in terms of overseas visitors alone surely it makes more sense to have the Kildare meetings next to each other.
The argument against includes a view that the corporate aspect to the festival works best midweek which may very well be the case but the dividend must be lucrative indeed when placed against gate revenue. 18,181 were at Wednesday’s Gold Cup, the festival’s acknowledged centrepiece event. Over 30,000 were there for Saturday. Is that the best use of a headline race?
Might it not be worth shuffling things around, perhaps moving the Gold Cup to a Sunday in order to provide a suitable racing crescendo to the week? HRI’s avowed aim is to broaden racing’s appeal, and introduce the sport to newer and younger audiences, something the evidence suggests weekend dates are more likely to achieve.
It’s not like there’s huge competition in terms of sporting counter-attractions to take away people from the turnstiles or divert TV coverage. The weekend’s hurling league finals didn’t exactly have everyone piling into Thurles. It’s not like Newmarket’s 2,000 Guineas action on Saturday kept people at home so the 1,000 shouldn’t be different. And Punchestown’s self-confidence to take on any competition anyway should be on a high after returning such good figures.
One argument apparently seriously put to this corner is that the jump jockeys like going on the lock on the Saturday night after racing which is why Sligo race on the flat the following day. It’s hard to believe there might be some widespread liturgical opposition in the jockey’s room about letting rip on a Sunday night instead. And if the jockey’s social habits are enough to prevent a reshuffle then it might be worth reminding them how they are in an entertainment business.
Punchestown proved once again that Douvan is probably National Hunt racing’s most exciting star. A prolific Grade 1 winner whose potential looks a long way from being fully tapped, and lauded by his trainer as the most talented runner he’s ever handled, Douvan possesses genuine star quality, the sort to get even hardened sceptics, burnt by many false dawns in the past, to wonder at what he might ultimately achieve. Surely the limits of that potential should be fully tested.
From the point of view of connections it is entirely logical to try and keep their horses in the easiest of company to maximise their chances of winning the most races. And of course the decision on how to campaign those horses is theirs alone. Rich Ricci owns a proven Gold Cup horse in Djakadam, and Mullins insists Vautour is also a Gold Cup horse, so it’s probably no surprise Douvan is such a short favourite for next year’s Champion Chase.
But Mullins also believes Douvan has sufficient stamina for the Gold Cup challenge which surely remains the ultimate challenge for a steeplechaser. Talk of duty or obligation is silly but surely some argument can be made for such a rare talent as Douvan getting a shot at that ultimate challenge. Even if he wins next year’s two-mile crown with his head in his chest, ‘what if’ questions will be inevitable.
Given the vagaries of the jumps game, such questions can become academic very quickly. In an ideal world though, it surely isn’t ridiculous to dream of Douvan starting off next season in something like the Durkan before getting a shot at three miles in the King George or the Lexus. If he proves unable to stay, then it would hardly be the biggest jolt dropping back in trip. But his looks an exceptional talent worthy of finding out.
The extent of Minding’s talent is pretty exciting too after her 1,000 Guineas rout. Immediate post-race attention was quite rightly placed on Aidan O’Brien’s 1-2-3, and the fact Minding was his 250th Group 1 winner, a staggering achievement. However it will be interesting to examine what happens in the upcoming trials to see if O’Brien winds up turning to the filly to try and help him emulate Vincent O’Brien’s six Epsom Derby wins.
Minding is 3-1 ‘with a run’ for the Derby. It’s worth recalling how O’Brien briefly flirted with the idea of running Found against the males last year. If US Army Ranger doesn’t fulfil expectations, it would hardly be an outrageous call to pitch an outstanding looking filly into the colts race rather than tackle what looks a penalty kick in the Oaks.
It is 18 years since Cape Verdi tried it without success but there is a neat synchronicity to the idea, 100 years after the last of just six fillies to win the Derby scored at Epsom. And we found out at Punchestown the value of a fillies allowance.
