The Punchestown Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Punchestown over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and during its running there are nine hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Punchestown Festival in late April or early May.
The present version of the race was introduced in 1999, and it was initially sponsored by Shell. Several different sponsors have followed, including Emo Oil, ACCBank, Rabobank, Racing Post, Betdaq and Paddy Power. Its current sponsor, Boodles, began supporting the race in 2024.
The field usually includes horses which ran previously in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, and the last to win both events in the same year was Lossiemouth in 2026. For a period the race was restricted to horses aged five or older, but the minimum age was lowered to four in 2009.
Records Most successful horse since 1999 (4 wins): Hurricane Fly - 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Leading jockey since 1999 (6 wins):
Ruby Walsh - Davenport Milenium (2002), Hurricane Fly (2011, 2012, 2013), Faugheen (2015), Vroum Vroum Mag (2016)
Leading trainer since 1999 (12 wins): Willie Mullins – Davenport (2002), Hurricane Fly (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), Faugheen (2015), Vroum Vroum Mag (2016), Wicklow Brave (2017), State Man (2023, 2024, 2025), Lossiemouth (2026)
Winners since 1999 Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer 1999 Istabraq 7 Charlie Swan Aidan O'Brien 2000 Grimes 7 Charlie Swan Christy Roche 2001 Moscow Flyer 7 Barry Geraghty Jessica Harrington 2002 Davenport 6 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 2003 Quazar 5 Tony Dobbin Jonjo O'Neill 2004 Hardy Eustace 7 Conor O'Dwyer Dessie Hughes 2005 Brave Inca 7 Tony McCoy Colm Murphy 2006 Macs Joy 7 Barry Geraghty Jessica Harrington 2007 Silent Oscar 8 Robbie Power Harry Rogers 2008 Punjabi 5 Barry Geraghty Nicky Henderson 2009 Solwhit 5 Davy Russell Charles Byrnes 2010 Hurricane Fly 6 Paul Townend Willie Mullins 2011 Hurricane Fly 7 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 2012 Hurricane Fly 8 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 2013 Hurricane Fly 9 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 2014 Jezki 6 Tony McCoy Jessica Harrington 2015 Faugheen 7 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 2016 Vroum Vroum Mag 7 Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 2017 Wicklow Brave 8 Patrick Mullins Willie Mullins 2018 Supasundae 8 Robbie Power Jessica Harrington 2019 Buveur d'Air 8 Davy Russell Nicky Henderson no race 2020 2021 Honeysuckle 7 Rachael Blackmore Henry de Bromhead 2022 Honeysuckle 8 Rachael Blackmore Henry de Bromhead 2023 State Man 6 Paul Townend Willie Mullins 2024 State Man 7 Paul Townend Willie Mullins 2025 State Man 8 Paul Townend Willie Mullins 2026 Lossiemouth 7 Paul Townend Willie Mullins
See also Horse racing in Ireland List of Irish National Hunt races
References Racing Post: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
pedigreequery.com – ACCBank Champion Hurdle – Punchestown. racenewsonline.co.uk – Racenews Archive (April 25, 2003).