The Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle headlines a good Irish card on Sunday, and this article highlights two Punchestown horse racing tips.

Firstly, an omission from myself. Regular readers may, or may not, have noticed there was no Saturday column yesterday.

Well, we all know what the weather has been like this week and there was no guarantee of racing being on at Ffos Las, and at the time I came around to scanning the cards, Kempton had already been shelved.

With a few things away from the tipping to focus on, I took a swerve on yesterday’s action for the column, but the Twitter managed to find two winners. Every cloud, etc.

Anyway, enough chatter, let’s dive in to these Punchestown horse racing tips.

Punchestown Horse Racing Tips

2:55 Punchestown – Don’tstopthemusic @ 11/8 with Boylesports – 2pt Win

I highlighted Don’tstopthemusic as a horse to follow for this season based on his Punchestown success in May, and despite losing on hurdles debut, I still think he retains plenty of ability,

The manner in which he beat his rivals at the Punchestown Festival last season was highly commendable, but the form has taken a few glaring hits subsequently.

Still, what he did was very impressive, and with no A Dream To Share to worry about, his task has been made a little easier.

Ultimately, I think Don’tstopthemusic will want further in time, but returning to Punchestown and running on soft ground over 2m1f will help, and I think there are some nice pots to be had with him.

Maybe my dream of the Albert Bartlett will remain a fantasy, but I think he’s a decent animal and he can get off the mark over hurdles.

3:25 Punchestown – Bright Legend @ 9/2 with BetVictor – 1pt Win

In the finale, it’s worth chancing Bright Legend based on some nice pieces of form from his juvenile campaign.

In February 2024, he gave Eagle Fang (now rated 141) a good race at Naas over two miles on heavy having finished fifth in a decent maiden hurdle behind Highwind and Lark In The Mornin one month previously.

Connections ran him in the Fred Winter, but he didn’t run an amazing race. Still, he largely put that behind him when third in a listed handicap hurdle at Listowel in September.

Pinot Gris, the second, has improved 19lbs since, and Bright Legend stayed on from a long way out to finish where he did.

After a nice run over hurdles at Limerick last month, the handicapper has him on a rating of 119, but his jockey claims a valuable 7lbs off to put him on a competitive mark.

On his first start at 2m4f, he can run a big race.

Cheltenham Ante-post Series

As many people will know, the Cheltenham festival is fast approaching, so it’s probably time to start having some serious opinions on some races from an ante-post point-of-view.

So, in what will follow a very similar structure to my ante-post fancies for the Only Fools Love Horses channel, I will start my Cheltenham Festival ante-post series in the week starting January 20th.

By that stage, we’ll know a fair amount about the races with still the likes of the Dublin Racing Festival to come about.

Stay tuned.