Punchestown Racing History
The history of Punchestown extends back to 1824, but it was not until 1854 that the course hosted its inaugural two-day meeting.
Famous Wins
Dawn Run vs Buck House
In what was only a match race between two horses in 1986, Dawn Run and Buck House lined up against each other in what truly was a battle of the titans. It was a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner against a Queen Mother Champion Chase winner.
The duo met on level terms, and what a race it was. The pair were engaged in a duel some way from the finish line and Buck House looked as though he was about to show his class and briefly threatened to take charge.
Dawn Run was no mug, though and the Gold Cup heroine came swinging back onto the bridle when she saw her opponent trying to pull away.
She asserted her authority jumping the final fence and left Buck House in shock and trailing two and a half lengths behind in her wake. If you can, you should watch the race on YouTube.
For the race to only involve two horses, it is one of the best races ever run on any track and makes your blood pump just watching it.
In an unbelievable twist of fate, both horses lost their lives separately within three months of this race having taken place.
Buck House died from Colic whilst on his holidays and Dawn Run fell whilst competing in a race over in France.
On The Fringe
Enda Bolger is renowned for getting his horses to compete in Cross-country Chases and has enjoyed some massive successes over the years.
He has a replica of all the fences run in the race laid out at his training facilities near Limerick.
In 2015/16, he trained On The Fringe to win a double hat-trick of races at Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown.
On The Fringe scored his successes in the Foxhunters Chases at Cheltenham and Aintree.
He also went on to win the Racing Post Champion Hunters Chase twice.
The horse and trainer cemented their respective places in racing history with those famous wins.
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