The sun shone, the crowds poured in and most of them went home last night with considerably lighter pockets.
The first day of Irish racing's version of Cheltenham saw over £1.7 million bet on the course, and much of it was lost.
Just two of the seven favourites won. The popular choices which did not oblige included Edredon Bleu which could only finish third in the featured BMW Chase behind its fellow English challenger, Get Real.
When almost £275,000 was bet on the fifth race, most of it on the 4/7 favourite, Sausalito Bay, which also could only finish third, then the 16,500 attendance, which included celebrities such as Grand Prix supremo Eddie Jordan and Rolling Stone Ron Wood, knew it just wasn't going to be their day.
The tax-free betting ring generated a turnover of £1,310,758, which was more than £400,000 up on last year, while the Tote aggregate was also up, to £403,031.
The racecourse authorities described the bookmaker turnover and the attendance figure as first-day festival records.
Jessica Harrington from Co Kildare trained the Evening Herald Champion Novice Hurdle winner, Moscow Flyer, but she admitted she never thought the horse would get close to winning a £31,000 first prize.
Moscow Flyer is the first racehorse owned by a retired Dublin businessman, Brian Kearney, who admitted to putting £200 on his horse at 8/1. But the bookmakers even got something of an edge there, too. Moscow Flyer was returned a 10/1 shot.
No doubt such experiences won't stop the crowds pouring back to Punchestown today when a seven-race card features the £120,000 Heineken Gold Cup and the Ted Walsh-trained Irish Grand National winner, Commanche Court.
