Our aim is to improve and enhance the Punchestown experience says Punchestown CEO

Preparations are in full swing at the home of National Hunt Racing at Punchestown and recently we made our annual pre-festival visit to chat with Conor O'Neill, the man from across the border in Ballynockan Co. Wicklow, who took over from the renowned and much-loved Dick O'Sullivan back in 2018.

As well as holding the office of CEO at Punchestown, Conor is also Chairman of the AIR (Association of Irish Racecourses) so no doubt, one very busy buachaill.

A visit at this time of the year to Punchestown is always one to look forward and the welcome from Conor, Hillary (Cahill), Shona (Dreaper) racing manager Richie (Galway) and the rest of the gang, is as warm today as it was when such visits began some two decades (or more) ago.

Looking around the entire place, bereft of racegoers, the sheer size of the place is really breath-taking, even the width of the track, with no rails, fences and hurdles, is astounding.

Conor reminds us that they have made a number of changes to the Festival of 2024.

It may be a cliche, says Conor, but it is the people that make Punchestown and we listen to the people and after last year's festival we looked to see if there was anything we could do to enhance the Punchestown experience as we are always very conscious to look at everything, in a new light.

“This year, on the first two days of the Festival we are implementing earlier start times, the start time on Tuesday, William Hill Champion Chase day and Wednesday, Ladbrokes Gold Cup Day will be 2.30 as opposed to 3.40, our customers and clients, it was felt in the earlier part of the week when we surveyed them would be far more appealing and it is something we want to try this year and I also think it will enhance the local economy even more so.

“One of the difficult challenges is, obviously we are depending on a lot of our visitors coming across from the UK, that will probably make it possible to come and go on a day, or two days, and only have to stay one night, while people coming from around the country, we feel, the earlier start time in the earlier part of the week will give them a better chance to come and enjoy a day out, enjoy the atmosphere and experience a great day out.”

It will certainly be interesting to see how that pans out, said the CEO, adding unless you try something you will never know, and while I'm never afraid to make a mistake, the key is to learn from it and adapt the business then thereafter.

Another major change this year includes admission prices and the fact the reserve enclosure is there no more.

“Two of the other key changes we have made this year include taking out the Reserve Enclosure, so anyone coming to Punchestown can access all the facilities throughout the site and as a result of that, a large aspect of that is our lay-out; we are trying to enhance the customer experience and over the past number of year that has been difficult to do because while functionally it works very well, the Reserve Enclosure dictated certain aspects of the lay-out that had to be in place because of that and so by taking that away it gave us a blank canvass to really look at our lay-out and see what we could do to enhance and improve and like that, we probably had a feeling that maybe it was getting a little bit stale.

“We felt that by doing that we take away the difference between the general admission ticket and the enclosure ticket, so no enclosure ticket, we are very conscious of cost of living and we want to make Punchestown as accessible and as good an experience as we possibly can for the people who come.”

As I have said, “it is the people who make Punchestown and we want to make it accessible to as many as possible so we have reduced our ticket prices for the opening three days to €30 across the board and €40 Friday and Saturday.

Will there be a financial hit on that?

“Yes, absolutely, but we see it as an investment; if you stand back and look at it, it is very hard these days for most people to go racing five days in a row; don't get me wrong now as there are a large proportion of people that do that but we are trying to make it as accessible for everyone, our regular racegoers along with the people who may have not come to Punchestown before so certainly financially it is quiet a bold move, and certainly not without its risks, but we see it as an investment in the future and hopefully people will see it that way and support it and increase the volume and help to mitigate the reduction.”

Punchestown is often compared with Cheltenham and racing in Ireland is often compared with racing in the UK, says Conor “but they it is very hard to do a direct comparison of in terms of population, wealth, etc, very hard to do, but we are the home of Irish National Racing and see ourselves as the pinnacle of jumps racing in the country but then when you look at some of the horses that are Punchestown-bound at this stage you are going to get, from a racing prospective, the very best racing and potentially better racing that you see in the UK.”

While you always have an eye over your shoulder you have also very conscious to concentrate on our own business and do what we can do to make the Punchestown experience as good as it could possibly be and accessible to as many as possible.

At the minute, and while it is still a bit early, a few weeks out from the festival, but certainly the quality of horses that will be in action this year could be phenomenal and maybe some of the clashes that did not materialise in Cheltenham could happen in Punchestown.

Obviously Fastorslow, owned by Sean and Bernadine Mulryan, which won the Gold Cup last year here, was unfortunate in Cheltenham and no doubt that could be one of the highlights of the week when he comes back to defend his crown against Cheltenham Gold Cup winner the Willie Mullins trained Galopin Des Champs, said Conor O'Neill with the tough of such a clash bringing delight to his face.

The CEO is very quick to point out how fortunate they are at Punchestown to have the support of both “our clients and our partners (sponsors) and they have been extremely supportive and we will again be fully sponsored throughout the week, with over 50 sponsors on board in terms of the racing; from a hospitality perspective I have that many waiting lists coming out of my ears but they have all been so supportive.

“I am so fortunate also to have the team we have here, an absolute fantastic team; here in the office, a great great team of people, they live and breath Punchestown and they are so proud of it and the work they do is phenomenal and that extends out to Sean Ryan (track manager) and his team when you take the winter we have and the fact that we didn't lose a race meeting, there are times you have to really see that they have done and what they have achieved to make that possible and to turn the track round for what, I have no doubt, will be in pristine condition come the Festival time.

“Sean and his team; Richie Galway our Racing Manager, they all do a great job and it certainly makes my job a lot easier, Snowy, Gavin, the team office, really I am very fortunate.”

Conor, is of course, Chairman of AIR (Association of Irish Racecourses) and as he says himself “there is never a dull moment these days and that's for sure; always something to keep us occupied but all is very positive; all good and really looking forward to the week of the Festival and hopefully the weather will play its part.

And so say all of us!