STEPPING UP

JON LEES talks to Darragh O’Keeffe who is tasked with filling Rachael Blackmore's boots

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MAIN MAN: Darragh O'Keeffe with Envoi Allen, above, Henry de Bromhead and, top, Rachael Blackmore on Bob Olinger

IF HENRY de Bromhead is true to form we will be hearing a lot of Darragh O’Keeffe at Cheltenham this week.

‘The 25-year-old was given big shoes to fill when Rachael Blackmore - the history-making jockey with whom the trainer had enjoyed 18 Festival wins during a golden era of success ~ announced her retirement last spring, but he has proved a good fit.

‘The champion Irish conditional of the 2019-20 season made his own Festival breakthrough on the stable’s Maskada in the Grand Annual three years ago when Blackmore's understudy.