Punchestown Festival: Marie's Rock strikes again

Marie's Rock hunted down the gallant Stormy Ireland to provide Nicky Henderson with yet another Punchestown Festival winner in the Grade 1 Coolmore Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle.

Henderson is no stranger to Punchestown success and made sure he didn’t leave empty-handed as Marie’s Rock completed a Cheltenham/Punchestown double by running out a one-and-a-quarter-length winner over Stormy Ireland and Danny Mullins, as 2020 Champion Hurdle winner Epatante was back in third.

Marie’s Rock and Nico de Boinville enjoyed a warm welcome to the Punchestown winners' enclosure with a large number of the Middleham Park Racing Syndicate in attendance to cheer on the seven-year-old who has catapulted through the ranks this season.

Henderson, who also saddled Epatante, said afterwards: "It’s always good to be here and we love it so it’s nice to come away with a prize like that. I wasn’t really sure (how it would go).

"They’re two good fillies. Probably stamina was the strength of the winner and Epatante, they set off to set a gallop.

"I think it was there to test Epatante’s stamina, which has probably played into Marie’s Rock’s hands a little bit. She wouldn’t have Epatante’s pace but she would probably have a fair bit more (stamina).

"She’d won the Mares’ Grade 1 in Cheltenham so she was entitled to be here. We decided to come here with Epatante as well because she proved she stayed at Aintree so it was the obvious thing for her to do rather than take on Honeysuckle.

Marie's Rock denies Stormy Ireland the perfect ending with a late burst to claim the Coolmore Kew Gardens Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown. Live coverage on RTÉ1 and the RTÉ Player. pic.twitter.com/0f0ltXm8pB

"You felt rather sorry for the Marie’s Rock team that I