It was Ladies Day all round at Punchestown as racing superstars Rachael Blackmore and Honeysuckle stole the show on Friday.
Crowds went wild at the Co. Kildare track as Henry de Bromhead’s starlet mare romped home in the highly anticipated Paddy Power Champion Hurdle to stretch her unbeaten record to sweet 16.
Lapping up the huge cheers on the winner’s parade, as Honeysuckle was shown off with pride to onlooking puntors, top jockey Rachael said: “I’ve ridden her enough now I know what she’s capable of, it took me a few strides to get her going turning in but I was never that worried to be honest, I know the engine she has.
“She is incredibly talented, I am so lucky to be on her back and Henry is so lucky to train her, we are all so lucky to be a part of what she is, she is a phenomenally talented mare and she always does what she has to do and that's an incredible feat in any horse.
“As a jockey you dream of getting on a good horse,you can't achieve things on the big days without that, but she takes that to a whole other level, she blows good horses out of the water, she is phenomenal and I’m very lucky to be riding her.
“She took a little bit of stoking today, but look she always does what she has to do. All of us involved with her know how incredibly special she is and how lucky we are to be a part of her.”
It was also a day to celebrate retiring jockey Robbie Power, who signed off on his impressive career as he enjoyed his final ride on Teahupoo in the same race.
Power announced his retirement from racing after riding Magic Daze to victory in Thursday evening's Handicap Chase.
Beaming from ear to ear on Friday despite the result, the beloved jockey affectionately called ‘Puppy’ said he was bowing out on a high.
“Ah look, it has been a fantastic career and I have enjoyed it every step of the way.
As the crowd gave him a lengthy clap as he made his way onto the track for the final time, the champion jockey added: “I haven’t received a reception like that since Sizing John won here. It was unbelievable and I feel privileged.
“I have had a fantastic career and enjoyed every minute of it. No regrets.”
A record breaking crowd of 40,984 flocked through the turnstiles on Friday, marking the biggest attendance for the festival ever in any one day.
This is an increase of 8457 since the previous festival in 2019, which saw 32,527 racegoers out in style.
Conor O’Neill CEO of Punchestown Racing Festival said: “This is a record crowd. It is fantastic it has also been a challenging and difficult few years, and the stars aligned today.”
Elsewhere, the ladies continued to rule the day as the famous Bollinger Best Dressed Lady competition crowned its 2022 winner at the festival’s finale.
And beating out stiff competition from throughout the week, it was mum-of-two Deirdre Kane’s mint ensemble that came out on top of the prestigious contest shortly after the first race of the day kicked off.
Speaking as she was crowned the best dressed of the week, Deirdre, who has previously won the title at the Dublin Horse Show in 2018 said it was a team effort to get the winning look.
And she revealed it was a race to the finish, as she only tried on the outfit for the first time on Thursday night.
She told Irish Daily Mirror: “The outfit was made by my friend Leanne O’Shea and she is directing a show in the Abbey at the moment. She is a nutcase of a woman because she said two weeks ago that she’d make it for me.
“So I didn’t see her, she hung it on the door of her house last night and I picked it up. She has made stuff before for me and I was hoping it would fit and thankfully I brought it home and I did.
“Julie Kenny in Castledermot made the hat. We had the fabric so the hat was made before the outfit,” she added.
“I love dressing up but I don’t come to many, Punchestown and the Dublin horse show would be the main ones. It’s a family day out.”
As the Bollinger Best Dressed Lady, Deirdre is the proud winner of a VIP trip for two people to the exclusive Bollinger Estate in the champagne region of France.
Whilst she said she was excited to celebrate the win with her husband and sister later on that day, the Carlow based winner said she was hoping her little girls would be looking on with pride as they watched her take the top prize at home.
“I have two kids Daisy and Milly, 10 and 7, so I'm hoping they got to see. They are with my mum and they are of the age where it is really exciting that moment really sticks out.”
The competition was judged by a ‘Style Council’ made up of judges led by stylist Marietta Doran, beauty entrepreneur Suzie O’Neill, stylist and personal shopper in Kildare Village Jess Colivet , and reigning 2019 champion Kate Nally McCormack.
On what it takes to stand out from the crowd to bag the top prize, Suzie O’Neill said: “There was something head to toe about Deirdre, it was effortless style.
Jess Colivet added: “When walked in and we saw Deirdre she looked like an absolute winner, she held it well, the colour was amazing on her, she really thought about it but the whole outfit from top to bottom, her grooming was impeccable, her hair, her nails, her shoes, her bag, everything from top to toe was flawless.”
Also spotted enjoying a day at the track was comedian and TV presenter Deirdre O’Kane.
The funnywoman, known for wearing trainers on stage during her stand-up routines, teamed up with bookmaker PaddyPower to tackle the issue of discrimination against trainers at horse racing meetings.
The mischievous Irish firm made the tongue-in-cheek move after two well-dressed female racegoers were refused entry to an expensive enclosure at Sandown racetrack last weekend for wearing white trainers.
The UK venue came under fire and was forced to publicly state it review its dress code policy after the patrons were turned away for wearing what onlookers described as “the cleanest white trainers you’ll ever see”.
So, as the main sponsors of racing at today’s Punchestown Festival, the bookie took a stand for casually dressed punters, to ‘remind fans that they, and their trainers, are welcomed at Irish racecourses and were celebrated as they arrived to enjoy the action at the Kildare track today’.
Joining the cause, wearing a bespoke custom-made hat created by Marinot Millinery, the Drogheda born stand up told Irish Daily Mirror: “It’s nice that everybody is back and out and it’s a bit of craic, I love a bit of paddy power marketing.
“Because I know they are funny, you're in safe hands.”
The comic, who is currently on her nationwide tour Demented, which took place in Wexford last night added: “I’ll be on stage tonight in runners, they are my thing, but because I’m in the runners so much I like wearing heels sometimes.
“I definitely wore heels more but I wasn’t on stage as much, I was mad for the heels. I had a fabulous collection of shoes but they get less and less and now I’ve a fabulous collection of runners.
“There are some female comics that do the full thing in heels, an hour and a half, fair play to them, I move a lot, it wouldn’t go with my gin and tonic,” she added laughing.
But she said she’s loving the return of work and live events more than she ever could have anticipated, admitting she’s felt emotional since getting back on the stage after years of cancellations during covid.
“I missed it more than I could have ever believed I missed.
“I can’t explain what it was like to go out in front of a crowd for the first time in two years, I was honestly emotional.
“I was genuinely emotional and the relief was palpable, and they were so giving, the audiences are so giving at the moment. They know it’s been rough so they are giving more.
“There’s always a healthy sense of nerves, especially when you are doing new material, when they aren't there I get a bit nervous. If I’m too calm I don’t think that’s a good sign.”
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