NAP of the Day: I’m sticking with the process at Punchestown

The Punchestown Festival gets underway on Tuesday and I'm hoping to get things off to a flyer courtesy of one that's been on my radar for coming up to half a year.

D-Day has arrived and he gets the NAP of the Day treatment.

Since November, I've had STICWITHTHEPROCESS in mind for the Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series Final Handicap Hurdle at the 2026 Punchestown Festival. On Tuesday, we'll see if that five-month plan comes to fruition.

Ted Walsh's six-year-old came onto my radar ahead of his maiden victory at Fairyhouse five months ago, following a closer look at his CV.

He did nothing more than simply gain a bit of experience in three starts in maiden company at the beginning of 2025, before making his handicap debut at Fairyhouse that April.

Off an opening mark of 105, the JP McManus-owned son of Blue Bresil finished third of 10, just over 15 lengths behind Gavin Cromwell's easy winner Crescent Moon.

In hindsight, I suspect that was a prep for a more-lucrative event over course and distance a fortnight later, for which he was sent off 7/2f and narrowly denied by the 109-rated Grann's Boy. The pair pulled a whopping 21 lengths clear of the rest of the field, which included the aforementioned Crescent Moon.

The form looks strong with Grann's Boy, who's entered in a Listed handicap on Thursday, rated 21lbs higher today. On that evidence, Sticwiththeprocess' nine-pound rise was fair. Very fair, in fact.

Back to this season's reappearance at Fairyhouse in November, as the selection ran out a length-and-three-quarter winner of a two-mile maiden. He was backed in from 5/2 to 8/11f in a very short space of time, if my memory serves me correctly, and duly proved too good for a poor field. The winning margin would've been much greater if he didn't idle after jumping the last, when left alone in front.

Weeks later he ran in a qualifier for Tuesday's final, at Punchestown over the 2m3½f trip. He finished third of 13, behind Gordon Elliott's Son Of Anarchy and the reopposing Rakki. Job done.

Again, that's a nice piece of form. The winner went close behind subsequent Grade 1 heroine Zanoosh off 10lbs higher at Navan next time out, earning a further rise of a couple of pounds.

Ignore Sticwiththeprocess' outing at Fairyhouse in the new year. He was denied a run at a crucial time and hardly knocked about afterwards. Just put a line through it.

His most-encouraging effort of the season to date came at Fairyhouse exactly 23 days ago - the same race he was third in 12 months earlier - as he stayed on strongly into second (of 20) behind a well-handicapped winner for Cian Collins. That ought to have put him spot on for the big day.

Blinkers are worn for the first time and Mark Walsh is doing the steering again. I'm very hopeful that, with a bit of luck, he's going to run a big race.

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