14 runners have been entered for the Grade 1 Punchestown Champion Hurdle, run during the final big festival of the jumps season. The race is slated to take place on Friday, 2nd May and the field includes some massive names who could take each other on once again.
They include all four protagonists from the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, with the most significant being Constitution Hill. Nicky Henderson has been intent on a trip to Ireland with his superstar after his career has been derailed by back-to-back falls at Prestbury Park and Aintree. It will be the first time he has raced in Ireland if he travels over.
The other faller in the Champion Hurdle was State Man, who had the race at his mercy when coming down at the last. Willie Mullins’ eight-year-old was putting in the performance of his life that day before that fall, which presented Golden Ace with the race for Jeremy Scott. The mare, now a two-time Cheltenham Festival heroine, could well attempt to prove that was no fluke in this contest.
Fellow mares Brighterdaysahead, who disappointed at Cheltenham for the second year in a row, and Lossiemouth, winner of the Mares’ Hurdle at the Festival and the Aintree Hurdle in which Constitution Hill fell, also hold places in the provisional line-up for what could prove a sensational race if enough connections stand their ground.
Mullins and owners the Donnellys have two other chances beyond State Man in Daddy Long Legs, who won at the Punchestown festival a year ago, and the youngster Kitzbuhel, with Absurde, Winter Fog and Kargese also representing Mullins, as well as El Fabiolo, who is a fascinating entry over hurdles after falls in two of his last three chases. Mullins has more than half the entries as a result.
Gordon Elliott has entered pacemaker King Of Kingsfield again for Brighterdaysahead, while the remaining duo are Break My Soul, fourth at Aintree in a career best effort, and Bottler’secret, formerly useful for Gavin Cromwell and now with first-season trainer Aidan Melia.
2025 Punchestown Champion Hurdle Entries
| Number | Horse | Trainer |
| 1 | Absurde | Willie Mullins |
| 2 | Bottler’secret | Aidan Melia |
| 3 | Constitution Hill | Nicky Henderson |
| 4 | Daddy Long Legs | Willie Mullins |
| 5 | El Fabiolo | Willie Mullins |
| 6 | King Of Kingsfield | Gordon Elliott |
| 7 | Kitzbuhel | Willie Mullins |
| 8 | State Man | Willie Mullins |
| 9 | Winter Fog | Willie Mullins |
| 10 | Break My Soul | Ian Patrick Donoghue |
| 11 | Brighterdaysahead | Gordon Elliott |
| 12 | Golden Ace | Jeremy Scott |
| 13 | Kargese | Willie Mullins |
| 14 | Lossiemouth | Willie Mullins |