A DRAMATIC 66-1 victory provided a huge moment of celebration for Wye Valley trainer Venetia Williams on Ladies Day at the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday (March 11).

Williams’ outsider Martator produced the biggest shock of the 2026 festival so far when getting up in the final strides to land the £150,000 Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase.

Ridden by stable jockey Charlie Deutsch, the 66-1 chance stormed home late to deny last year’s winner Jazzy Matty by a nose in a thrilling finish to the two-mile contest.

The dramatic success was a major boost for Williams after what has been one of the toughest seasons of her long training career.

The Ross-on-Wye trainer endured a difficult start to the campaign, managing just seven winners between October and December before failing to record a single success in January.

Although February brought some improvement with five winners, the yard headed to Cheltenham with just 14 victories for the season.

Martator did not look the most likely candidate to change that run of form on paper, but the gelding responded brilliantly to the addition of first time blinkers and a bold ride from Deutsch.

Held up early on, the pair crept into contention before producing a strong late run down the outside of the field, jumping the final fences with precision before getting up right on the line.

Williams admitted she could hardly believe what she had witnessed as Martator edged the finish in the closing strides.

She said: “I’m pretty speechless, partly because I was screaming so much. I just can’t believe it. We could see he was coming and he met the last few fences on a great stride and winged them. Charlie rode an amazing race.”

The trainer revealed the decision to fit blinkers had been something of a gamble before the race. She added: “We put the half cup blinkers on, thinking let’s just roll the dice. Charlie rode an amazing race. We just said ‘Go your own pace, don’t worry about them as they’re going to go a million miles an hour anyway’.”

Deutsch admitted the season had been difficult for both himself and the yard and he had arrived at Cheltenham without huge expectations.

He said: “When you’ve had a season like we’ve had I wasn’t really looking forward to Cheltenham because it’s been disappointment after disappointment and there’s only so much you can take.

“The blinkers helped massively and the better ground as well. The whole way I was getting a very good spin but I didn’t believe I had a chance until I turned in when I thought, ‘Here we go’.”

The victory was Williams’ ninth success at the Cheltenham Festival and Deutsch’s second, while the shock result produced one of the biggest payouts of the week for punters who backed the outsider.

Attention now turns to Friday’s Gold Cup where Williams saddles another outsider in L’Homme Presse, expected to start around 50/1, with Deutsch aboard the experienced 11 year old who still retains plenty of ability, and placed fourth in the race in 2024.