The 2024 Punchestown Gold Cup: predicted finishing order

By Andy Stephens
Last Updated: Thu 2 May 2024
It’s Willie Mullins’ World, and we are all just living it. That’s how it has felt since the Cheltenham Festival, with the all-conquering master of Closutton proving unstoppable.
We can expect more of the same at the Festival this week, as he is set to field a star-packed team despite the small distraction of winning the British Jump Trainers’ Championship.
None of his nine Cheltenham Festival winners - Galopin Des Champs, State Man, Lossiemouth, Fact To File, Gaelic Warrior, Ballyburn, Absurde, Majborough and Jasmin De Vaux - have run since and all seem likely to feature.
The Mullins juggernaut will be spearheaded by Galopin Des Champs, his two-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, who will line up in the glittering highlight of the whole week, the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup (5.25) on Wednesday.
He finds himself on something of a retrieval mission, though, after a shock defeat at the hands of in last year’s renewal. That horse again stands in his way.
Here’s a guide to all the possible runners in the order I prefer them. Enjoy every race at the five-day bonanza live on Racing TV. 
Enjoy 31 days free - including the bet365 Jump Finale from Sandown, all five days of the Punchestown Festival and the QIPCO Guineas Festival! .

1   GALOPIN DES CHAMPS 

Official Rating: 179. Best odds: 8/11 fav. 
There was never really a moment when he didn’t look like winning a second Cheltenham Gold Cup last month, having won the Savills Chase (by 23 lengths from Gerri Colombe) and Irish Gold Cup (by 4½ lengths from Fastorslow with something to spare) en route. His Cheltenham form got a boost when Gerri Colombe subsequently went one better at Aintree. The memory of his defeat at the hands of Fastorslow in last year’s Punchestown Gold Cup lingers but he now seems even more the finished article, with connections able to adopt more positive tactics. He’s had 47 days to refresh his batteries and, having had only for runs this campaign, it’s not as if he’s had an exhaustive campaign. If he brings his A Game, then he will again be the one they all have to beat. 
 Fastorslow masters Galopin Des Champs 12 months ago

2   FASTORSLOW 

Official Rating: 170. Odds: 3/1. 
Those he believed his defeat of Galopin Des Champs in last year’s renewal was a fluke have had to revise their opinion. He beat him again in the John Durkan back at Punchestown in late November, plus had a good tussle with him in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown in February before coming off second best. The eight-year-old then had a wind op and was moving fine, stalking Galopin des Champs when unseating his rider seven fences from home in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham. Usually a sound jumper, he can be forgiven that blip. He’s had a lighter campaign than Galopin Des Champs and we know this track plays to his strengths. Their sixth clash– he trails 3/2 – promises to be something to savour. 

3   CAPODANNO 

Official Rating: 160. Odds: 25/1. 
He’s twice been a convincing winner at this meeting, in 2021 and 2022, but missed last year’s edition. He made little impact in the Grand National, for the second successive year, but had previously won the Cotswold Chase plus been a creditable fourth in the Ryanair Chase. I can imagine Mark Walsh biding his time and trying to pick up some pieces late in the scene. 
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4   CONFLATED 

Official Rating: 166. Odds: 16/1. 
Arrives here on the back of fine runs in the Ryanair Chase and Melling Chase, splitting Jonbon and Protektorat in the latter when equipped with first-time cheekpieces. The return to further should be no problem (his Grade One wins have been over 3m) but he often jumps left and is 0/3 at Punchestown (this will be a belated first run for him at the Festival). Also, he’s come up short in his previous three clashes with Galopin Des Champs. 

5   CORACH RAMBLER 

Official Rating: 162. Odds: 12/1. 
The brilliant 2023 Grand National winner ran as well as he has ever done when third in the Gold Cup, finishing 13 lengths adrift of Galopin Des Champs. A reproduction of that run would again give him place claims but he exited at the first at the Grand National and then, riderless, fell when loose. That is clearly a less than ideal preparation and it remains to be seen whether his confidence has at all been affected. He can take time to warm up in his races, so don’t expect him to be in the thick of things from the outset. 

6   HEWICK 

Official Rating: 169. Odds: 16/1. 
Added another chapter to his rags-to-riches story when winning a dramatic renewal of the King George VI Chase at Kempton in December. There was talk of him going for the Gold Cup/Grand National double after that but he ended up missing both races. Instead, he reappeared over hurdles at Aintree and made little impression. The rain forecast to hit the track will frustrate his connections and, peculiarly, none of his previous 35 races have been at Punchestown. 

7   JOURNEY WITH ME 

Official Rating: 162. Odds: 16/1. 
His good wins-to-runs ratio (six from 12) might be even better had he not suffered three falls in his career, including at Punchestown where he is 0/3. Having missed the bulk of the season, he could be fresher than most of these and he looked better than ever when giving weight and a thumping to Appreciate It in a Grade Two contest at Fairyhouse last time. He’s unproven beyond 2m4f and is going to have to keep errors to a minimum to be competitive. 

8   GENTLEMANSGAME 

Official Rating: 160. Odds: 40/1. 
The lightly raced grey, twice placed at this Festival in the past, looked like he might start making up for lost time when upstaging Bravemansgame in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby in early November, when having just his third start over fences. However, he looked out of his depth when pulled up in the Gold Cup and was unable to get competitive in the Bowl at Aintree. Needs to find a big chunk of improvement. 

9   APPRECIATE IT 

Official Rating: 153. Odds: 33/1. 
The runaway 2021 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner has been an underachiever over fences, although he went close in novice company at the Festival last year and split Fastorslow and Galopin Des Champs in the John Durkan here in late November. He’s since been disappointing, albeit on heavy ground that may not be ideal for him, and looks booked for a minor role. 
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