Punchestown racecourse today announced the exciting news that Dooley Insurance Group have further enhanced their support of the Punchestown Festival in a deal that will see the Naas based firm elevate to grade one sponsorship status.
The €100,000 Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice chase is one of the highlights on the opening day of the 2019 Punchestown Festival which runs from Tuesday 30th April to Saturday 4th May. The prestigious contest has attracted a top quality field of 23 entries at the early closing stage including three Cheltenham festival winners in the form of British raider Defi Du Seuil trained by Philip Hobbs, Any Second Now from the local base of Ted Walsh and the Cheveley Park Stud owned A Plus Tard. Delta Work, Getabird and Winter Escape are other notable entries. The 2018 running of this championship race hit headlines when dual grand national winning jockey Davy Russell steered The Story Teller to victory having avoided final fence drama involving subsequent Cheltenham Gold Cup winning duo Paul Townend and Al Boum Photo.
Established over sixty years ago the Dooley Insurance Group has since thrived and is now one of Ireland’s largest independent insurance brokers with over 8,500 clients throughout the country. The official insurance partner of Punchestown racecourse now ‘top and tail’ the festival as the opening race on the final day also carries the Dooley Insurance Group banner.
Tim Dooley, Managing Director of the Dooley Insurance Group commented on the new arrangement “We first entered the sponsorship stage at Punchestown in 2017 and have since learned that the partnership is beneficial on both a commercial and community basis. Both companies share the common bond of being anchored in county Kildare whilst operating our business on a national and on occasion international stage. It makes sense for Dooley Insurance to fly the flag at Punchestown it’s at the heart of our business network but it’s also a very important event to us on a personal level”
Punchestown Commercial Manager, Janet Creighton welcomed the upgrade by saying “Today’s announcement demonstrates the importance of local support on a commercial level at Punchestown. Dooley Insurance Group have upgraded their sponsorship to one of the most prestigious races on the programme. This is a testament to their business foresight and hopefully a reflects the benefits of sponsoring and working alongside the Punchestown team. At the end of the day it has to make good business sense”.
The 2019 Punchestown Festival gets underway on Tuesday 30th April and runs to Saturday 4th May. Full event information and ticket options available on www.punchestown.com