R2C's Betting Tips for Day One of the 2026 Punchestown Festival

The 2026 Punchestown Festival is here, bringing with it a thrilling week of top class National Hunt racing, electric atmosphere, and the very best of Irish sporting tradition.

It can be a graveyard for punters so it is important to remember that it is a marathon, not a sprint – with five days of exhilarating action to enjoy from Tuesday to Saturday.

I’ll be here with my best bets throughout the week, starting with three selections on the opening day. Fingers crossed we can get off to a flyer on Day 1…

15:05 Punchestown

STICWITHTHEPROCESS (0.5pts E/W, 9/1)

I’ve been keeping a close eye on STICWITHTHEPROCESS since he qualified for this race in November and I’m hoping he can go close for leading owner JP McManus. He’ll have the services of Mark Walsh in the saddle and that can only be a positive, though there are several similarly unexposed types lurking in the field.

He has some form behind several nice horses, including when finishing a short head second to Grann’s Boy at Fairyhouse last April. That horse has gone up 21lbs since while Sticwiththeprocess is just nine pounds higher. Furthermore, Son Of Anarchy is up 12lbs to a mark of 130, having beaten my selection off 118 in that Punchestown qualifier.

Rakki, one of the main market rivals, finished in front of the JP McManus runner on that occasion but Sticwiththeprocess has a 2lbs swing in the weights and I’d image we will see an improved effort on Tuesday. For me, I’d rather be on the Ted Walsh horse than the Willie Mullins-trained runner watching that race back, anyway.

I’ll give a mention to Faye Bramley’s Almuhit – who looks to have been laid out for this after finishing second in last year’s race. He runs off a 4lbs higher mark this time around but that might not be enough to stop him, particularly with Harry Cobden book to ride for The Cheeky Pups Syndicate. He’s well worth a second look.

16:50 Punchestown

PREDATORS GOLD (0.5pts E/W, 6/1)

PREDATORS GOLD was absolutely tanking when falling in the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse and it looked for all the world like he was coming to win the race. While it is hard to confidently suggest that he can beat dual Grade 1 winner Kitzbuhel, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility and I fancy him to run a big race.

Patrick Mullins has put his hand up for just one non-bumper ride across the opening two days of the meeting and that may be a tip in itself. Predators Gold had been talked up plenty prior to Cheltenham but he was withdrawn on the day, with connections expressing their frustration at the decision.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how he gets on here, and the three-mile trip around Punchestown should be right up his street. He’s always been highly regarded by those at Closutton but has been hard to train at times, so hopefully connections are rewarded for their patience with a Grade 1 success on Tuesday evening.

It doesn’t look the strongest race in the world and I’d be fairly confident that Predators Gold is one of the two most talented horses in the line-up. You should never be scared of one horse so I’m willing to take Kitzbuhel on with his stablemate and hopefully it’ll be another Grade 1 for the father-son combination that is Willie and Patrick Mullins.

18:05 Punchestown

MARINE NATIONALE (1pt WIN, 7/4)

Ground conditions will give MARINE NATIONALE a fantastic chance of getting back to winning ways and I’m expecting him to be hard to beat on Tuesday evening. While the charismatic Barry Connell has been a little quieter in the build-up to this race, I’m taking that as a positive sign and he could have too much speed for his rivals here.

Il Etait Temps bolted up in the Queen Mother Champion Chase but I’d be a little worried that he might be over the top. He was back in training early enough last summer, and it was a miraculous training feat to get him in such shape at Cheltenham after his tired fall in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot just 53 days earlier.

In addition, Majborough went off like a scalded cat that day and his jumping went to pot once again when he made a mistake. He’s very hard to trust and I would image that Mark Walsh will try his best to keep a lid on his mount, which ultimately may suit my selection if it becomes more of a sprint than a test of stamina.

Marine Nationale missed Cheltenham after a minor setback but he should be fresh and he has a perfect record (3-3) at Punchestown. He was ruthless when winning this race 12 months ago and a repeat of that sort of performance may well be enough to prevail once again. I’m quietly confident that he will get the job done.