Punchestown Racecourse is this week content in the knowledge that it has just staged its most successful National Hunt Festival ever.
The 2005 running of the Irish National Hunt Festival saw records smashed for both betting turnover and attendance and produced a quality of racing second to none.
Victories for Irish-based stars such as Kicking King, Brave Inca and Rathgar Beau, who beat Moscow Flyer in a photo-finish for the Kerrygold Champion Chase, as well as five British-trained winners during the week brought about some spectacular responses from the 77,000-plus racegoers who attended the meeting.
The total attendance over the four days of the Irish National Hunt Festival was 77,482, an increase of 4,121 on 2004, while the Friday crowd of 25,092 was up nearly 4,000 on the previous year.
A total of €10,420,464 was bet with racecourse bookmakers over the four days, an increase of €1,882,432 on 2004, while the Tote turnover of €4,039,056 was up €366,744 on 2004.
The continuous rise in the prize fund to €2.1 million for the 2005
festival ensured the participation of not only the creme de la creme of Irish trained-horses but also 40 British and French trained runners from no less than 23 different overseas trainers
Next year's Irish National Hunt Festival at Punchestown is likely to undergo some minor race programme changes following the very successful event last week.
Dick O'Sullivan, General Manager at Punchestown Racecourse, commenting on the terrific week, said: "There is no doubt that we have just staged the most successful festival ever and the betting and attendance figures prove this.
"The significant rise in prize fund certainly played a huge part on the quality of the racing and, together with many of our sponsors, we will keep increasing this prize fund year on year."
