Punchestown Festival analysis and Timeform ratings

Feronily (156p from 135p)

Willie Mullins was responsible for 11 of the 16 runners who contested the three Grade 1s on the opening day of the Punchestown Festival and he had a 1-2 in the Champion Novice Hurdle and a 1-2-3-4 the Champion Chase. However, his four-strong team in the Champion Novice Chase had to settle for minor honours as his nephew Emmet sent out Feronily to score on just his second start over fences.

Feronily only won his point last November and was running in bumpers during the winter but, following a couple of outings over hurdles, connections have been rewarded for their bold decision to send him chasing so soon.

Feronily shaped with encouragement when runner-up in an open Grade 3 on his chasing debut at Cork earlier in the month and he built on that promise to land the Grade 1 novice chase at Punchestown, earning a Timeform rating of 156p that has been bettered by only Gerri Colombe (162p), The Real Whacker (158p) and Gaillard du Mesnil (157) among the staying novices.

He jumped notably soundly for one so inexperienced at Punchestown and displayed a willing response to pressure under a positive ride, and there should be more to come in staying chases next season.

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Grangeclare West (144 from 135+)

Grangeclare West, a £430,000 purchase after winning his sole start in points, looked like a good prospect when making a winning bumper debut at Punchestown a couple of years ago and he also scored in style on his belated hurdling debut at Navan in November.

Grangeclare West had then come up short in a couple of Grade 1s but, given some time since the Dublin Racing Festival, he was well backed on his return to action in a lower grade at Punchestown and justified that support with an authoritative success, finding plenty when tackled approaching the last to pull four and a quarter lengths clear.

His trainer Willie Mullins has plenty in the novice hurdle division who have achieved more, but a rating of 144 is near smart on Timeform's scale (the benchmark is 145) and gives him a good base to build on when going chasing next term.

Fastorslow (170 from 160)

The unexposed Fastorslow may have been beaten in handicap company at Cheltenham but he ran a cracker attempting to give 4 lb to subsequent Grand National winner Corach Rambler in the Ultima, and he stepped forward from that performance to lower the colours of Gold Cup one-two Galopin des Champs (remains 181) and Bravemansgame (remains 174) in the Grade 1 Punchestown Gold Cup.

There are obvious reasons to be cautious about the form as Galopin des Champs and Bravemansgame may have been feeling the effects of a tough race at Cheltenham, while there's a chance that pair and fourth-placed Envoi Allen paid the price for getting racing too far out.

However, it could be dangerous to just overlook the performance as an end-of-season shock as Fastorslow is a progressive seven-year-old who has only recently been presented with a sufficient test of stamina and was contesting a three-mile chase for just the second time at Punchestown. His new Timeform rating of 170 is that of a top-class chaser, though still some way below the level Galopin des Champs ran to at Cheltenham.

Ballyburn (118 from 111p)

The best performance in the bumper division all season was produced by John Kiely's A Dream To Share, who improved his Timeform rating to 125 (from 122) when achieving the rare feat of winning five bumpers, adding the Champion Bumper at Punchestown to a tally that already included the one at Cheltenham.

A Dream To Share was ultimately well on top at the line, passing the post with a three and three-quarter-length advantage, but he was made to work hard by the much less experienced Tullyhill (120 from 110p) who ran a cracker on just his second start under Rules.

Tullyhill is clearly an excellent prospect, as is his Willie Mullins-trained stablemate Ballyburn who won the bumper on Thursday evening to confirm the excellent impression he had created on debut.

Ballyburn was up against some promising types but, for a horse bred to stay well, he showed plenty of pace to quicken six lengths clear. His Timeform rating of 118 has been bettered by only A Dream To Share (125), Fact To File (120) and Tullyhill (120) in the bumper division this season, and it's possible he could have clocked a higher figure had he been tested against better-quality opposition in graded company. He looks likely to take high rank among the novice hurdlers next season.

Kilcruit (160 from 150)

It's not just graded races and bumpers that Willie Mullins has dominated at the Punchestown Festival as he also has an incredible recent record in the novice handicap chase.

Mullins made it five wins from the last five renewals when Kilcruit posted a dominant victory on Friday, proving a class apart as he pulled 15 lengths clear.

Mullins has aimed some talented sorts at the race and Kilcruit, a Grade 1 winner in the bumper division a couple of seasons ago, added his name to a roll of honour that includes Kemboy, Real Steel and Asterion Forlonge. He ran to a similar level as that trio, earning a Timeform rating of 160 which is the benchmark for high-class form, and the only novice chasers to have earned a higher figure this season are El Fabiolo (175p), Jonbon (169), Gerri Colombe (162p) and Mighty Potter (161).

It's worth pointing out that Impervious, who extended her unbeaten start over fences to five with a smooth success in a Grade 2 mares' chase at Punchestown, is rated 159p but would be coming out well ahead of Kilcruit on adjusted ratings once her 7 lb sex allowance is factored in.

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