2022 Punchestown Champion Hurdle Tips, Odds and News

The penultimate day of racing at the Punchestown Festival is headlined by the Punchestown Champion Hurdle.

This Grade One hurdle is often contested by horses who ran in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, and it's been won by legends like Istabraq, Faugheen and Hurricane Fly.

Punchestown Champion Hurdle Key Facts

DateFriday 29th April, 2022
TrackPunchestown
Time5:25pm
Distance2m
StatusGrade One
First Prize£300k
Age4YO+

2022 Punchestown Champion Hurdle Odds


Name
Odds
Honeysuckle1/4
Epatante6/1
Saint Roi14/1
Teahupoo14/1
Zanahiyr14/1
Bar20/1

*Odds taken on 19/4/22*

2022 Punchestown Champion Hurdle Tips

Once the field has been finalised, we'll publish our guide to the 2021 Punchestown Champion Hurdle.

2021 Punchestown Champion Hurdle Result

Position
Name
SP
1stHoneysuckle1/3f
2ndSharjah3/1
3rdEpatante6/1

Punchestown Champion Hurdle Day Card

Race
Title
Status
Distance
1Hunter Chase for Bishopscourt CupClass 42m4f
2Novice Handicap ChaseGrade A2m5f
3Mares' Handicap ChaseGrade B2m5f
4Punchestown Champion HurdleGrade 12m
5Champion Novice HurdleGrade 12m4f
6Champion Hunter ChaseClass 23m1f
7International Novice HurdleClass 22m
8INH Flat RaceClass 22m2f

Punchestown Champion Hurdle History

Punchestown added their own version of the Champion Hurdle to their Spring Festival schedule in 1999. Fittingly, the first winner of this Grade One was the great Istabraq, one of the most decorated National Hunt horses of all time.

Moscow Flyer claimed victory in 2001. Hardy Eustance and Brave Inca then traded Punchestown Champion Hurdle wins in 2004 and '05.

Willie Mullins is the most successful trainer in this Grade One, having won it on eight occasions. Four of those wins came courtesy of Hurricane Fly, who won the Punchestown Champion Hurdle four years on the bounce between 2010 and 2013.

Ruby Walsh was in the saddle for three of Hurricane Fly's victories. Walsh has also ridden three other winners, making him the most successful jockey in Punchestown Champion Hurdle history.

Jessica Harrington has saddled four winners of this great race. Jezki won for Harrington in 2014, with Supasundae also claiming victory in 2018.

Faugheen was the first of three successive winners for Willie Mullins between 2015 and '17 Faugheen was followed into the winners' enclosure by Vroum Vroum Mag and Wicklow Brave.

11 years on from his first win in the race with Punjabi, Nicky Henderson saddled his second winner of the Punchestown Champion Hurdle in 2019, as two-time Cheltenham Champion Hurdle winner Buveur D'Air claimed an impressive win.

After the 2020 Punchestown Festival was cancelled due to Covid, Honeysuckle remained unbeaten by winning her first Punchestown Champion Hurdle in 2021.

Punchestown Champion Hurdle Winners

Year
Winner
2021 Honeysuckle
2020 No Race
2019 Buveur D'Air
2018 Supasundae
2017 Wicklow Brave
2016 Vroum Vroum Mag
2015 Faugheen
2014 Jezki
2013 Hurricane Fly
2012 Hurricane Fly
2011 Hurricane Fly
2010 Hurricane Fly
2009 Solwhit
2008 Punjabi
2007 Silent Oscar
2006 Macs Joy
2005 Brave Inca
2004 Hardy Eustace
2003 Quazar
2002 Davenport Millennium
2001 Moscow Flyer
2000 Grimes
1999 Istabraq