In the second part of his exclusive interview with BOYLE Sports , Sean O'Keeffe turns his focus to the races.
The Mullins jockey reflects on the Cheltenham 2026 festival and gives his verdicts on the Gold Cup , Champion Hurdle , and the horses he'd most love to be riding at Punchestown .
Plus his two bankers and two value bets for the week.
Punchestown Festival Picks
'He's Going to Go For It'
He's going to go for it. With the Trainers' Championship looking as it is, there'd be no reason to be holding back. He needs to have a good crack at it and make sure that he does have the firepower there to overhaul Gordon's lead in it.
Rides for the Week
No indications that way. Hopefully, I will have a good few rides there, and hopefully, there will be a couple of rides for a few other trainers as well. There's a couple of different races in Punchestown , a couple of cross-country races and a couple of mid-level handicaps. Hopefully, we'll have a busy week, and I'll have plenty of rides for Willie and plenty of rides for other people as well.
Horses He'd Love to Ride
Lossiemouth . I wouldn't mind riding her. She'll win the Champion Hurdle , no doubt.
A spin on Kopek Des Bordes would be good fun in the two-mile Novice Chase.
Gaelic Warrior obviously will be hard to beat coming back again too.
Cheltenham Reflections
The Gold Cup
It's a great race and one which can throw up a different or unexpected result coming towards the end of the season. The year Fastorslow won it for the first time, it was a little surprising. But Gaelic Warrior's performance in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham was unbelievable, and if he can bring that level, he'd be extremely hard to beat.
His biggest danger would be Fact To File . He's a pressure horse, and he missed Cheltenham . They had a great battle in the John Durkan at the start of season in Punchestown , so it'll be another great battle between the two of them again.
Gaelic Warrior has the better form this season. It's just whether Fact To File is a little bit fresher come this time of the year.
Fact To File's Cheltenham Absence
I suppose a little bit. But JP McManus had a lot of good horses for the race.
But he was so dominant in the Ryanair last year, the year before as well. Maybe there are question marks about how well he would have stayed the three miles and two furlongs in Cheltenham . So, you could definitely see the reasons why they were planning on sticking to the Ryanair .
'Nothing Will Trouble Lossiemouth'
I don't think there's anything that will trouble Lossiemouth . The race is teeing up nicely for her to go and do the business.
Champion Stayers' Hurdle
I think Gordon Elliott has a good, strong hand with Teahupoo heading back there and Honesty Policy , who won't be far away. Teahupoo will be the favourite and rightly so.
But you can't overlook Home By The Lee . If he turns up again, he could take the most beating out of all of them. He's in terrific form, and his races don't seem to take too much out of him. There's no reason why he can't go there and show his form again.
'Something to Put Right'
Kopek Des Bordes is probably the big one in the two-mile chase. He was very unlucky at Cheltenham not to win. That was only a second run over fences. He'd have learned plenty that day as well.
He probably still was a little bit raw early on in Cheltenham and then seemed to get in a nice rhythm and was just unlucky to peck at the back of the last fence. He definitely has something to put right, going to Punchestown . The track will suit him.
Champion Novice Chase
It'll be interesting. Kitzbuhel and Final Demand look like they could be turning back there. That'll probably be another wide-open race.
Punchestown will probably suit Kitzbuhel . He won his Beginners Chase there as well, early in the season, as a front-runner.
One to Watch in the Bumper
Willie has a nice few entries again. A lot of them ran in Cheltenham , and one I like is Quiryn . Paul Townend rode him in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham . He finished sixth, but he wasn't beaten very far. He's only a four-year-old, so I think he's probably still learning a bit. I thought he'd travel into the race well in Cheltenham . I think he's one to keep an eye on.
Horses to Follow
Galopin and Energumene
I was on Galopin Des Champs when he won the Martin Pipe at the Cheltenham Festival in 2021. I won a Hilly Way on Energumene as well. He was a great horse to get a spin on, too, at that time. So they're the two real big-name horses.
There's been a couple of Grade 1 winners too, in Lecky Watson and The Nice Guy .
Lecky Watson's National
His jumping probably didn't hold up. He jumped well early and got in a nice position over the first ten fences, then he made a mistake at the Chair and lost a bit of confidence then. After that, I was fighting a losing battle on the second circuit.
He'll definitely be back for another big pot along the way, hopefully somewhere.
Bankers and Value Bets
The Bankers
Lossiemouth and Kopek Des Bordes are my bankers.
The Value
In the handicap hurdle, Jump Allen was very unlucky at Cheltenham in the Martin Pipe . He didn't get much luck in running. He's definitely one for handicaps.
Then there's a horse called Spread Boss Ted who I won a Beginner's Chase on in Naas just before Cheltenham . He could be one for the handicap chases there and a nice sort of a price.
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