Irish racing packs a potent punch

By Frank Keogh
BBC Sport at Punchestown

Pundits hail Kicking King

There are more than a few characters at the Punchestown racing festival in Ireland. And that's just the horses.

Imagine a punting priest - well, quite a few of them, actually - spoon-playing tipsters, and riders with nicknames like Slippers, and you get a flavour of the place.

The blend of top-quality racing, and that essential Irish enjoyment factor they know as the 'craic', is an irresistible mixture.

And it provides a fine example of what horse racing should be about in a year where the sport of kings has the spectre of a massive police race-fixing inquiry hanging over it.

There has been National Hunt racing at Punchestown in the heart of Kildare for more than 150 years.

The venue is trademarked by its unique cross-country track with testing grass banks and walled obstacles in the middle of the course.

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A story round here, and there's more than a few of them, says Punchestown was marketed as a mini Cheltenham Festival after a plea from one of Ireland's leaders in the 1980s.

The then Irish taoiseach Charlie Haughey is said to have stood on a box at Cheltenham and declared to racegoers that Punchestown would be "the next big thing."

After overcoming planning and course drainage problems, the event is increasingly a bigger thing.

There is more than two million euros in prize money, and the chance for fans to salute their Cheltenham and Aintree heroes.

The days of Irish-bred potential champions like triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate being sold to British owners as a matter of course are over.

A strong economy, and major support from its government, has given Irish racing a firm footing.

It seems only right for a country where the form book is almost part of the national curriculum.

Schools in the area around Punchestown are given the Festival's last couple of days as holidays.

Sermon on the mounts Priest's Cheltenham mission

At the Church of Immaculate Conception in nearby Ballymore Eustace, Father Sean Breen gives his own tips to some youngsters from the pulpit.

Some believe Father Sean has a hotline to God, and he confesses to having correctly tipped Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to be the new pope.

"A few of the lads got on at 13-2, but I did not back him myself out of reverence," he says with a straightish face.

The schoolchildren who attend Father Breen's mass service are all aged about seven, and they listen intently.

"If you have a bet, stick to your first choice, and only gamble what you can afford to lose," he says solemnly.

"Oh, and before someone at the back starts giving out - don't get addicted to gambling!"

Kicking King, trained in Kildare by Tom Taaffe, provided his own racing miracle when coming back from an illness which initially ruled him out of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, only to recover and triumph just a fortnight later.

Father Breen blessed the horse before his blue riband triumph, but the priest collapsed at the racecourse in the excitement after his win.

Now back in rude health, he has his own pundit's spot on local radio station Kildare FM - and tips five winners on Punchestown's opening day.

One repentant listener texts in to thank the clergyman for helping him harvest 180 euros. "I'm a born-again Christian," he declares.

Many hours later that day and just over from the church at a pub called Paddy Murphy's, naturally, a man called John is dressed in full all-white papal regalia.

The fake pontiff blesses punters and occasionally recalls a successful plunge on Paddy's Return at the Punchestown Festival in 1997.

Young lady footballers in their green and white Ballymore kits dance into the early hours as the band plays on.

Rathgar Beau (7) just pipped Moscow Flyer in a photo finish

They party despite the shock defeat of the week's so-called certainty - Moscow Flyer edged out by Rathgar Beau in a photo finish of the Kerrygold Champion Chase that took the judge nearly nine minutes to call.

Moscow's jockey Barry Geraghty managed to wear a broad smile despite the horse losing his record of never being beaten in completed races.

Geraghty has the last laugh 24 hours later when he rides Kicking King to a cosy victory in the Guinness Gold Cup.

"It's every bit as important to take defeat as it is to enjoy success," says the admirable Geraghty.

Moscow Flyer, Kicking King and a string of other horses meant the Irish cleaned up in the big jumps races of the last few months.

The King George VI Chase, Tote Gold Trophy, Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Gold Cup, Grand National and Betfred Cup all went west.

Punchestown racing manager Richie Galway surveys the course's scene of happy, bantering punters, and is a satisfied man.

"This is the largest corporate event in our country, bar none. We will have 16,000-18,000 corporate customers alone this week," he says.

"The crowd really do appreciate the class horses."

As he speaks, the name of amateur jockey Niall Madden is clattering out of the course's PA system.

Niall is better known as Slippers. He's the son of Boots Madden, you see, and he's just booted home another winner.