The story
Punchestown Festival in Naas/Punchestown
A five-day National Hunt racing festival at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas, County Kildare, tracing its origins to an 1850 meeting organized by the Kildare Hunt Club, held each spring as the traditional finale of the Irish jump-racing season, headlined by the Punchestown Gold Cup, run on day two as the meeting's marquee closing-season race.
The Kildare Hunt Club, itself established in 1752, organized the first meeting at what is now Punchestown Racecourse in 1850, building on organized racing in the county dating back to 1824, and the modern five-day National Hunt festival now runs each spring from late April into early May as the traditional finale of Ireland's jump-racing season.