Punchestown Festival 2025: Top Tips for Day 3
Day 3 of the Punchestown Festival has a tough card. Punters may get some respite in the two Grade-1s that frame nicely for each-way players.
Three handicaps featuring 73 runners and a 16-runner cross-country marathon conspire to make Thursday’s Punchestown Festival card a ‘punter unfriendly’ affair. Not for the first time this week, big hitters will gravitate towards the top-class races.
A lot is going on at Punchestown on Thursday – but only two races will attract the big-hitting punters.
Today, that will draw serious punters to the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase at 5.25 pm and the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers Hurdle 35 minutes later. There is British representation in both Grade-1 contests.
However, horse racing betting sites believe the visitors have only a slim chance of success in the Novice Chase and quote Paul Nicholls’ Rubaud on 12/1 and Anthony Honeyball’s Brookie on 18/1 odds.
Similarly, Fergal O’Brien’s Crambo gets a 10/1 quote in Ladbrokes Champion Stayers Hurdle, where last year’s winner and 2024 Cheltenham Festival scorer, Teahupoo, tops the betting for trainer Gordon Elliott.
Key Facts:
- Big field handicaps are the theme of Punchestown Festival Day 3.
- British chances are thin in the two Grade-1s.
- There are grounds to like Hiddenvalley Lake.
- Entertaining owner/rider David Maxwell has a live chance in the Bumper.
Take the Lake on Yielding Ground
Here, at the each-way price of 6/1, our selection is Hiddenvalley Lake. Relatively lightly raced, this four-time winner impressively landed Aintree’s Liverpool Hurdle when last seen in competitive action.
Called in by the local Stewards, the trainer’s representative could offer “no explanation for the apparent improvement in form,” but there is a suspicion a switch to good ground may have brought the best out of this eight-year-old gelding. The British ‘good’ going description is close to the Irish ‘yielding’ surface he will encounter on Thursday.
Impressive for a dying trade #PunchestownFestival pic.twitter.com/2VRMQWizuH
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A Safe Conveyance Is a Safe Play
Majborough made dreadful mistakes at the business end of Arkle Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Such was his impressive CV he started the race at odds of 1/2. Third place means his copybook was dramatically blotted, and now he is a risky proposition at his 4/9 quote in the 5.25 pm, the Grade-1 Novice Chase.
As an each-way selection once again – albeit six runners means only a place in the first two will pay – Only By Night, quoted on 9/2 odds by the top UK online betting sites, is a sensible alternative.
A short-head ahead of Majborough at the Cheltenham Festival when defying her 25/1 odds, this Gavin Cromwell-trained mare will once again receive seven pounds from all her rivals. Vitally, Only By Night appears to be a safe conveyance, and several Mullins’ runners have jumped badly or fallen at Punchestown this week.
Maxwell Can Entertain on El Cairos
There could be success for British trainers in the concluding National Hunt Flat Race (6.35 pm), where several English yards are represented. Entertaining owner/rider David Maxwell might set the winner’s enclosure alight with success aboard the Gary & Josh Moore-trained El Cairos.
A fifth-placed effort in the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival backed up the form El Cairos had shown when winning on his rules debut in Newbury, and it is the strongest form on offer.
There is no denying that Ksar Fatal looked impressive when scoring on his only rules outing at Gowran Park, but there is no saying how capable his beaten rivals are. As a Willie Mullins production line member, he is sure to start plenty short enough in the betting.
Punchestown Day 3 Best Bets
- 5.25 pm – Only By Night (e-w)
- 6.z0 pm – Hiddenvalley Lake (e-w)
- 6.35 pm – El Cairos
BestBettingSites.com’s 2025 Punchestown Festival Preview provides full details on how to watch, bet, and enjoy the action from Irish jumps racing’s premier meeting.
