DALSTON Lad might at first glance appear to be a Cheltenham hopeful, but trainer Dan Skelton has ruled the possibility of a run there out of the equation, and instead will target Aintree for the six-year-old son of Ocovango (Monsun).

Bred by John and Caroline Bourke at Longrove Stud in Golden, Co Tipperary, Dalston Lad was sold as a foal at Tattersalls Ireland for €15,000 to Michael Roche and Gatelodge Stables.

When he was reoffered as a store at the Goffs UK Spring Sale, he failed to fire and was unsold at £19,000. The next time he appeared in public was in a Goffs-sponsored maiden point-to-point at Dromahane, which he won by six lengths for handler Paul Pierce, and 10 days later he was at the Goffs Punchestown Sale where he cost Ryan Mahon and Dan Skelton €115,000.

For new connections Dalston Lad rewarded them with bumper wins at Ayr and Aintree before finishing down the field behind Bambino Fever in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper. His first two starts on his reappearance this season proved disappointing, now known to be due to stomach ulcers, and he has since run up a three-race winning sequence, culminating in a weekend success in the Grade 2 Albert Bartlett Prestige Novices’ Hurdle at Haydock.

This is a family that has been good to John Bourke’s family for many decades now. Indeed, Bourke seems to specialise in families that he has had a forever connection. Dalston Lad is the last of the 10 foals produced by the unraced Miss Platinum (Oscar), and while she did well at stud, it is with her last two offspring that she has hit the heights.

Cheltenham win

At Cheltenham 2025, Miss Platinum’s son Myretown (Dylan Thomas) won the Grade 3 Ultima Handicap Chase, and become the best runner until then for his dam. One of the mare’s earlier foals was A Fine Young Man (Snurge) who was placed in a Grade 3 handicap hurdle, while Gone Platinum (Mountain High) won eight races. In addition, a daughter of Miss Platinum, Adderstonlee (Presenting), bred Abuffalosoldier (Mahler), a Grade 3 Cheltenham chase winner.

Miss Platinum had three winning siblings, and the best by far was Strong Platinum (Strong Gale). A smart hurdler, he was a top-class chaser, with two Grade 1 wins at Punchestown and another in the Power Gold Cup at Fairyhouse.

The family skipped one generation when it came to producing high-class winners. Dalston Lad’s third dam Miss Goldiane (Baragoi) getting two winners, neither of which got any blacktype. However, the fourth dam, Goldiane (Golestan), was unexpectedly a taproot for National Hunt greatness. Foaled in 1956, she ran at two and three without troubling the judge. She had 10 foals, eight were named, and she had a single winner, Coramona (Birkenhead). He won eight times, all but one over fences.

Prolific branches

While none of Goldiane’s daughters did anything on the racecourse, most being unraced, they have gone on to establish prolific branches. Most famous is Artiste Gaye (Artist’s Son), an outstanding broodmare who bred two Cheltenham Festival greats, Gaye Chance (Lucky Brief) and his Champion Hurdle-winning full-brother Gaye Brief.

Group 2 winner Ocovango stood eight seasons at The Beeches Stud, and his first crop included Grade 1 winner Champ Kiely, and three Grade 3 winners, Mr Vango, Langer Dan and the Galway Plate winner Pinkerton. He did not get any others until Dalston Lad. After three seasons at Alne Park Stud in Britain, Ocovango will cover at Haras de Longechaux this year at €2,500, the same fee he covered at for his last season in Ireland.

I HAD the pleasure to recently visit the state-of-the-art stables of Barry Connell, where he explained just about everything you could imagine about the place, his way of working, and the importance of keeping horses happy and healthy.

What better example of this at work than to see the 10-year-old My Immortal (Shantou) produce one of the best performances of his career to win the Listed Grand National Trial Chase at Punchestown, and pocket a tasty €59,000.

This was his first chase win, adding to a point-to-point success and two wins over hurdles, and there could be another big prize up for grabs yet. Connell is already talking about the Welsh Grand National at the end of the year.

Bred by John and Rosemary Hutch, My Immortal was sold as a foal at Goffs a decade ago for €28,000 to Dick Frisby, but was not one of his best buys financially, as he got back just €25,000 at the Goffs Land Rover Sale two and a half years later. He sold from Glenwood Stud to Monbeg Stables, and was trained by Cormac Doyle. Twenty days after pulling up on his debut, he won a point-to-point at Ballycrystal, but failed to sell at €100,000 in an online sale in November 2020.

When we saw him next, My Immortal carried Barry Connell’s colours, and while his form might appear to be somewhat in and out, he has often come up against smart opposition in his races, and a win in such a race as the Punchestown contest, while gained at 40/1, was not a big surprise to his owner and trainer. Ground conditions are likely to dictate where he goes next.

There was an ‘unofficial race’ on the card at Punchestown at the weekend, the Up The Yard Challenge, and it was a close relation to My Immortal who was second, beaten half a length.

This was That Danny Feeling (Diamond Boy), a dual bumper winner last year who has some placed form too over hurdles. He is the first foal of an unraced half-sister to My Immortal, and that mare’s second produce is a three-year-old son of Crystal Ocean (Sea The Stars), purchased as a foal by the shrewd Joey Logan.

Four winners

My Immortal is one of four winners from seven progeny of Off She Goes (Sadler’s Wells), bred by Noreen McManus and twice-raced by her husband J.P. Perhaps surprisingly, Off She Goes off and went into the ownership of John and Rosemary Hutch too early, as she was born a year after her full-brother Synchronised (Sadler’s Wells). History now relates that he went on to become a very good chaser, and the highlight of his career was winning the Grade 1 Gold Cup.

That Cheltenham victory was one of two he garnered at the highest level, as he also landed the Grade 1 Lexus Chase. He had two ‘National’ triumphs, in the Welsh and Midlands versions. Another full-sister was Curragheen (Sadler’s Wells), and this unraced mare bred a number of winners.

Just about every aspect of Synchronised’s win the Gold Cup was perfect from the point of view of the McManus family. He raced in the famous green and gold colours, was trained by Jonjo O’Neill and partnered by A.P. McCoy, and to make it all the better was bred by Noreen at Martinstown Stud.

The dam of Synchronised, Mayasta (Bob Back), was bought out of Con Collins’ yard and went into training with Frank Berry, now J.P.’s racing manager. By another strange twist of fate, when she won at Punchestown in 1996, one of nine career successes she enjoyed, Mayasta was the first winner A.P. rode for J.P.

With a tally of nine wins from 20 starts, and winnings of £510,000, Synchronised’s career was sadly cut short when he tackled the Grand National at Aintree and was fatally injured at the sixth fence.