'I'm delighted' - Maskada takes advantage of Dinoblue's blunder to give Henry de Bromhead a 22-1 Grand Annual winner

A day after Honeysuckle's perfect farewell, Henry de Bromhead was back in the Cheltenham winner's enclosure with another mare after Maskada powered home to provide jockey Darragh O'Keeffe with his first festival success. 

Sent off at 22-1, Maskada took advantage of runner-up and 7-2 favourite Dinoblue's errant jumping at the last two fences by charging up the hill to score by six and a half lengths.

Last year's winner Global Citizen cut out most of the running and ran a gallant race in third, while Third Time Lucki finished fourth.

O'Keeffe won the 2020 Caspian Caviar Gold Cup on Chatham Street Lad but had other near-misses at the track and punched the air in celebration at the line. 

"I was just touched off last year in the Coral Cup, and also in the Paddy Power on French Dynamite, and was starting to get nightmares about this place," he said. 

"She loved the conditions out there today and jumped super the whole way around, so it's brilliant. She can be a bit keen but I had a lovely spin. She's run over further in the past so going that gallop, it was just about hanging in there. She pinged the second-last and the last and she kept on great up the hill."

Henry de Bromhead with Maskada after her Grand Annual winCredit: Edward Whitaker

O'Keeffe had not ridden Maskada, who won a Listed mares' chase at Leicester when trained by Stuart Edmunds, on her last two starts and was grateful for the opportunity to get back on the winner. 

"I was going to win a handicap chase at Fairyhouse on her and she tipped over at the second-last and then won at Limerick next time out – it's great of the owners to put me up," he said.

The 22-year-old jockey, who hails from Cork, won the 2020 Grade 1 Savills Chase on last year's Cheltenham Gold Cup hero A Plus Tard and again rewarded the faith placed in him by De Bromhead.

The trainer said: "She was really good and Darragh gave her a super ride. I'm delighted for him as it's his first winner here [at the festival], which is brilliant. I'm delighted for the Mariga family as they're great supporters of ours who have put a lot into the game.

"We bought her some way through the season last year, just before Punchestown. She had really good form and I don't think we've done a whole lot more with her, she's great and I'm delighted."

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