Wexford jockey Sean O’Keeffe looks ahead to the Punchestown Festival

Wexford rider Sean O’Keeffe looks ahead to the Punchestown Festival next week…

Speaking exclusively to BOYLE Sports, top jockey Sean O’Keeffe – who is a key rider for the all-conquering Willie Mullins yard – looks ahead to the Punchestown Festival next week.

Here, Taghmon local Sean gives his thoughts on the Punchestown festival, what it’s like to work behind the scenes at Willie Mullins’ yard, while he also shares some of his favourite Punchestown memories.

Thoughts on the Punchestown festival:

All the festivals kind of roll on pretty quick. Once Cheltenham comes in the spring, it’s on pretty quick to Fairyhouse, Aintree and then Punchestown now.

So, it’s an enjoyable time of year. There’s not much break, it’s just top class racing in very quick succession.

Punchestown is always great to look forward to. It is always a great week to finish off the year with. Plenty of competitive racing, big fields, and it’s always an enjoyable week with a great crowd and weather hopefully.

The ground is always perfect. It’s a great track. Everybody enjoys it there and I suppose everybody wants to finish off on a good note too.

It definitely is very important . All the best horses end up at Punchestown at the end of the year. It fits in well in the calendar, with horses that have gone to Cheltenham and Aintree and Fairyhouse.

Sometimes it can come a little bit quick after Aintree and Fairyhouse, but Cheltenham horses have had a nice break coming in from there. It’s the last big races of the season before the good horses go out on their summer holidays.

Punchestown always does a great job there and the ground and everything is always good and safe.

Behind the scenes at Mullins’ yard:

I ride out there three days a week, working the horses. I’ve been working plenty of the horses and schooling plenty of them. You’d know a lot of horses in there, helping to get them all ready.

I’m not part of the full time staff as such, there’s a lot more people on the ground in there on very early mornings, late evenings, mucking out, looking after the horses as well, plus riders are there every day riding out.

I’m lucky that I get to ride plenty of them, especially at the big festivals when there’s plenty of them turning up and plenty of races.

I’m lucky to get a nice few rides there and to pick up a few nice ones over the time as well. You’re there hoping that you get lucky and get on a nice one and things fall your way.

The level and quality of horses there is unbelievable. Every morning you go in, you wouldn’t know what you could be riding out or you wouldn’t know what you could end up riding at the races.

The number of top level horses there is second to none, compared with any other yard in the country. That just drives the levels of everyone in the yard.

My favourite Punchestown Festival memories

Probably, coming home from school when the racing was more in the evenings during the week. You’d get in to watch the big races. I used to love watching the TV and so I used to skip the odd day off school and head up to the races.

All the great horses have rocked up there. I remember watching all of them back through the years. Sprinter Sacre got a huge ovation when he came and won there.

The crowd in Punchestown really appreciate the good horses as well.

The level of competition is huge. Everybody wants to get a piece of the action and a winner. There is not an inch given out on the track. There are big fields with handicaps of 25 or more runners.

It sounds like there could be plenty more British entries too, which all adds to it.

Everyone in the weighing room is fairly good friends really. But when you get out on the track then you have to look after yourself at the end of the day.

O’Keeffe was speaking to BOYLE Sports, who have the very latest horse racing odds.