Punchestown start times

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davidjohnson

At the Start
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A New Start for Punchestown Festival.

Punchestown racecourse today announced that the start times for the opening races for the first four days at the Irish National Hunt Festival have been moved an hour later to 3.45pm.

The move will see the seven race programmes run from 3.45pm through to 7.15pm on Tuesday 28th, Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th April and 3.45pm to 7.45pm on Friday 1st May while the start time will remain at 2.45pm for Saturday 2nd May.

This decision continues Punchestown’s policy of adapting to the current economic challenges and making racing more accessible to the general public. After extensive consultation with all stakeholders it is felt that this adjustment will accommodate those racegoers who wish to carry out at least a half day of work prior to racing in a time when employment priorities are forefront in people’s minds.

The change means that the major races of the Punchestown Festival are now to be shown live on RTE during primetime which significantly increases the potential viewership. Having consulted major sponsors including Kerrygold, Guinness, Rabobank, Ladbrokes and Ballymore, Punchestown can reveal that all are in favour of the alteration as it will increase brand exposure and facilitate the needs of their corporate guests and clients. Racing industry bodies such as Horse Racing Ireland, the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association and members of the racing press are all in support of the initiative based on the positive effects it will contribute to the industry.

Dick O’Sullivan, General Manager Punchestown, stated “The business world has changed more in the last eight months than it has in the last ten years so it was a case of adapting to the new circumstances. One of the most significant advancements we have made in recent times was to win back the support of the local community and we feel that by facilitating the hard working public we are making it easier to justify an afternoon at Punchestown with a decent days work under their belt “

“There are so many parties involved in the Punchestown Festival and having thought long and hard about this, we feel that it will benefit and add to the event. The success of the festival benefits the local towns and villages from hotels and pubs to shops and boutiques so to optimise the success of the festival will optimise the trade locally”.

“Decisions in recent years, including the addition of the very successful concluding fifth day, have been good for racing and the race going public so we are confident about this latest initiative”.

The Punchestown Irish National Hunt Festival takes place from Tuesday 28th April to Saturday 2nd May 2009. General Admission is €30 with Students and OAP’s paying €15. The Party @ Punchestown Pack offers excellent value to group bookings at just €29pp.

For further information on the Punchestown Irish National Hunt Festival please visit www.punchestown.com
 
Bar the Bull said:
I think this is a brilliant idea. I like race meetings to start at one o'clock or so, so that I can watch them during my lunch break.

This is even better.
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That's good news..Punchestown is a nice spin for me anyway, we'll have an extra hour in the cot that morning so:D:D
 
The more I think about this the better an idea it seems to me. From a public point of view (perhaps not stable staff) I can see no down side to this.
 
Personally I think it is only an effort to get people to stay overnight in Kildare or go for dinner after racing. It helps those taking a half day but the Festival is not the easiest to get out of and if you are leaving the course at 8pm and have a two or three hour drive ahead of you then it's quite late when you get home. Personally, I prefer the 2pm start and get everyone home for dinner at 8. I'm not sure it really falls into primetime. There is no way they will let it run into Home and Away on RTE 2 at 6.30 or the News at 6pm on RTE 1 so they will have to be finished TV coverage before then and in reality, most people don't get home from work until after six so don't buy that. I think it's the business people of Kildare thinking, "we can sell a few more lunches and a few more dinners now". I'm sure the course is thinking the same too, have people in for lunch and then do dinner after racing too.
 
Cantoris said:
Personally I think it is only an effort to get people to stay overnight in Kildare or go for dinner after racing. It helps those taking a half day but the Festival is not the easiest to get out of and if you are leaving the course at 8pm and have a two or three hour drive ahead of you then it's quite late when you get home. Personally, I prefer the 2pm start and get everyone home for dinner at 8. I'm not sure it really falls into primetime. There is no way they will let it run into Home and Away on RTE 2 at 6.30 or the News at 6pm on RTE 1 so they will have to be finished TV coverage before then and in reality, most people don't get home from work until after six so don't buy that. I think it's the business people of Kildare thinking, "we can sell a few more lunches and a few more dinners now". I'm sure the course is thinking the same too, have people in for lunch and then do dinner after racing too.
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RTE have confirmed they will be showing the same number of races as previously including all the Grade 1s after 6 o'clock.

Getting out of Punchestown is no where near as bad as it used to be, in fact it is probably the easiest of the big festivals to get through relatively speaking. In fact leaving the course at 8pm means you will not be driving into Naas when everyone else is leaving work and trying to get home, the roads should be quieter.

I think the point of this is it is hardly likely to put people off coming, were as there is every chance it will encourage many more to come.
 
I think its a great idea, and means I should be able to go on 2 days now instead of one!
 
Well done Punchestown -the fact of the matter is that it helps most working people who want to go for a day out.For me personally it means taking a halfday instead of a days leave.
 
A different perspective.....while I fully understand the reasoning from a parochial point of view it does strike me as inconsistent with Punchestown's oft-stated desire to be an International festival encouraging runners, trainers, owners and, I assume, punters from the UK and other parts of Ireland. The average daily attendance at the Festival is just over 20000 - it is a fraction of that on other race days and it is clear that there are many 'once a year' racegoers.....judging on the difficulty in obtaining accommodation many of those are from the UK or other parts of Ireland. They have presumably figured out how to take time off work but are now faced with the prospect of 'killing time' until after 3pm every day. If the Festival wants to be about the local population then fair enough but don't expect this travelling racegoer to embrace this change
 
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pdleech said:
A different perspective.....while I fully understand the reasoning from a parochial point of view it does strike me as inconsistent with Punchestown's oft-stated desire to be an International festival encouraging runners, trainers, owners and, I assume, punters from the UK and other parts of Ireland. The average daily attendance at the Festival is just over 20000 - it is a fraction of that on other race days and it is clear that there are many 'once a year' racegoers.....judging on the difficulty in obtaining accommodation many of those are from the UK or other parts of Ireland. They have presumably figured out how to take time off work but are now faced with the prospect of 'killing time' until after 3pm every day. If the Festival wants to be about the local population then fair enough but don't expect this travelling racegoer to embrace this change
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Kill an extra hour, its not as if it is a few hours change....I don't see how it will not be good for travellers. Travelling from a distance away allows you time to get there while those staying the week will likely appreciate the extra hour in bed judging on the antics in Naas all week...
 
It makes a significant difference to people flying out after racing who would have booked flights some time ago.....I was just trying to get the local racegoers to be a little less parochial
 
pdleech said:
It makes a significant difference to people flying out after racing who would have booked flights some time ago.....I was just trying to get the local racegoers to be a little less parochial
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I need to drive around 80 miles to get there.The 345 start means I can be there two days instead of one.The later start will allow Punchestown to attract the maximum possible attendance-if that means people flying in on a daytrip are inconvenienced then so be it.
 
This will do wonders for my Punchestown drinking. The sprint between 6pm and 10pm resulted in extreme drunkeness last year - the distraction of the racing and later times will ensure that the post racing boozing leads nicely into nighttime. Very enthused by developments.
 
FREE PUNCHESTOWN FESTIVAL TICKETS WITH RYANAIR​

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline has confirmed that it has reached an agreement with Punchestown Racecourse under which Ryanair has purchased 5,000 general admission tickets for the five day Punchestown Festival. The tickets will be distributed entirely free of charge to the first 5,000 Ryanair passengers travelling on any Ryanair flight from the UK to Dublin on any of the five days of the 2009 Irish National Hunt Festival at Punchestown.

This partnership between Ryanair and Punchestown offers British racing fans one last opportunity, following Cheltenham and Aintree, to see the best national hunt horses in these islands. UK trainers Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson have already suggested that champions Master Minded and Punjabi may travel to Punchestown for the Festival. Ryanair’s free race ticket offer allows British visitors the ideal chance to fly to Dublin, spend a day at Punchestown and watch these champions make their last seasonal appearance.

Releasing details of this promotion today in London, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:“Ryanair is proud of it’s long standing connection with the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival. This partnership with Punchestown gives Ryanair a similar link-up with Ireland’s “Cheltenham”.

“Ryanair is offering flights from 18 English and Scottish airports to Dublin on each of the five days of the Punchestown Festival, and now with these free racecourse entry tickets, thousands of British guests can now sample the best low fares airline in Europe, as well as the best jump racing in Ireland.

“With just 5,000 free entrance tickets and enormous demand, these freebies will be allocated on a first come, first served basis to only those passengers who have purchased a Ryanair flight from the UK to Dublin on any of the 5 days of the Punchestown Jump Racing Festival.

“People wishing to avail of this offer should book a low fare flight on www.ryanair.com and click on the “Punchestown” button on the homepage of the Ryanair website – before Monday 13th April – to avail of their free racecourse entry tickets.”

Welcoming the announcement Dick O Sullivan General Manager said “We are delighted to announce this partnership with Ryanair and it is tremendous for Punchestown to have the support of such a successful international brand. Michael O Leary has enjoyed a lot of success here at Punchestown with War of Attrition and many other horses and we look forward to welcoming him back to the winners enclosure this year “
 
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