Boost for Punchestown

HORSE RACING:RYANAIR BOSS Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud will sponsor one of the feature races at next April's Punchestown National Hunt Festival while the airline plans to boost the prize fund for the race that bears its name at the Cheltenham equivalent in March.

Gigginstown House has agreed to sponsor the €90,000 two-mile novice chase for the next five years. This year’s renewal takes place on April 22nd, the third day of the five-day Punchestown Festival.

While Gigginstown is sponsoring the race, it will be named the Ryanair Novice Chase. The race is a grade one and generally attracts a high-quality field. Previous winners include the Gigginstown-owned War of Attrition, who captured the prize in 2005, the year before he went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Champion jumps trainer Willie Mullins won the race last year with the David Casey-ridden Barker, who defeated the better-fancied Forpadytheplasterer.

Ryanair also announced yesterday that the prize fund for the Ryanair Chase on the Thursday of the Cheltenham Festival next March will increase to £250,000 (€278,000) this year from £220,000 (€245,00), making it one of the most valuable pots of the four-day meeting.

The Edward O’Grady-trained Tranquil Sea is close to the top of the betting for the race. In November he won the Paddy Power Handicap Chase over the same course and Two mile, five furlong trip. Ryanair is the official airline of the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival.

Ryanair spokesman, Stephen McNamara, said yesterday that the sponsor hoped to see the first Irish-trained winner of the race this year.

Reacting to the new sponsorship at Punchestown, racecourse manager Dick O’Sullivan said that Ryanair had been instrumental in making the festival more accessible to UK visitors.

“Many UK racecourse members currently enjoy free admission on the opening day of the festival and we look forward to strengthening our relationship with Ryanair to grow the UK attendance further,” he added.

Meanwhile, with no sign of a thaw in sight in Britain or Ireland, the big freeze continues to decimate the National Hunt scene.

Doncaster’s meeting on Wednesday is the latest to have been abandoned, joining the scheduled action from Kelso for that day on the sidelines.