Punchestown reduced to a five race card Racing has been given the go ahead at Punchestown this afternoon but without the two chase races, and a five race card will now get underway at the later time of 4.55pm. The chase course was found to be waterlogged following 15mm of rain throughout the morning (still raining at 3.30pm), so the thetote.com Punchestown Gold Cup will not take place today. The inspection was carried out by a group including Clerk Of The Course Brendan Sheridan, Punchestown's Racing Manager Richie Galway and Ruby Walsh. The "Gold Cup" along with today's other scheduled chase, the Guinness Handicap Chase, will now be run on Saturday. In order to facilitate this change of programme, both the Madra Irish Dog Food Novice Chase and the O'Reilly Recruitment-sponsored Bumper have been deleted from Saturday's card. Gates are now open for patrons, although some areas around the parade ring are restricted for health and safety reasons due to high winds, and corporate guests are being escorted to their pavilions. The shopping village has been shut. Today's revised card is as follows:- 4.55 Martinstown Opportunity Series Final Handicap Hurdle 5.30 Louis Fitzgerald Hotel Hurdle 6.05 Irish Daily Mirror Novice Hurdle 6.40 betchronicle.com Champion I.N.H. Flat Race 7.15 At The Races Flat Race The going is heavy, and a precautionary inspection has already been called for 8am tomorrow morning to determine whether Thurday's card can go ahead.
