PUNCHESTOWN Racecourse reports a spike in ticket sales for the Friday of its Festival meeting following confirmation this week that Constitution Hill is an intended runner in the Boodles Champion Hurdle on May 2nd.

The Nicky Henderson-trained gelding fell at the fourth last flight in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham this week, having been sent off the 1/2 favourite.

State Man, also a faller in that race having looked a certain winner, and already the winner of five Grade 1 races at Punchestown, is also expected to run in the race.

Punchestown racing manager Richie Galway said: “That was the big take-out of the week for us. Both horses appear to have come out of Cheltenham safe and sound, and the rematch is on. There are questions to be answered. Nicky and [owner] Michael Buckley are brilliant sportspeople and supporters of Punchestown, while State Man has a fantastic record here.”

The promised appearance of Constitution Hill at Punchestown will bring back memories of the Henderson-trained Sprinter Sacre who won the two-mile Champion Chase at Punchestown in 2013, having won at Cheltenham and Aintree that season.

Even though Sprinter Sacre was the 1/9 favourite at Punchestown, his presence ensured a then record opening day attendance of 18,607. Last year the official attendance on day one of the meeting was 16,361.

Crowd numbers have been down at Cheltenham this week but Galway says that advance ticket sales at Punchestown are solid. “At the moment our trends are positive. Corporate hospitality is almost sold out for each day.”

As usual, Punchestown had a trade stand at Cheltenham this week. Galway says the qualifying races for the Albert Bartlett Handicap Hurdle Final have also boosted British interest in the Festival.

This year’s Festival comes just a week after the Fairyhouse Easter meeting but Galway says there is not a significant overlap in the racing programmes for the two fixtures.

“Post-Covid, our field sizes have been good at Punchestown,” Galway said. “There is a lot still to play out between now and the end of April. There’s Aintree and ground conditions to consider. But Willie Mullins remains our biggest supporter and to see him having another good Cheltenham is good news for Punchestown.”

Cheltenham attendances

Last Sunday Cheltenham’s new chief executive Guy Lavender warned that he expected crowd numbers to be down this week and he was proven correct, especially on the first two days of the meeting.

The official attendance over the first two days came to 97,447, a decrease of around 10,000 on last year. Thursday’s crowd figure was only marginally lower than in 2024, and Friday was reported to be a sell-out.

Lavender told ITV Racing: “I know why everyone is particularly interested in the numbers, but what I’m really interested in is what experience we’re delivering. The improvements that were made last year are making a difference this year. You can see it in what people say to you. You can see it in the customer feedback. And our challenge is to make sure the experience here is what racegoers want, and I really do feel we’ve delivered that exceptionally well over the last two days.”

Asked what has led to the drop in attendance at the Festival, Lavender said: “There is no one single factor that you can pin it on. The economy is difficult. There are challenges around cost and value.

“There’s a whole series of issues that affect what racegoers want to do. We have to just take a forensic look at each of those and address them properly. And ultimately, the racegoers will tell us, you have to get the value proposition right. You have to get the racing right. And I do really feel that the last two days are a good demonstration of making that happen. I think we’re really delivering against that.”