THIS year’s Punchestown Grade 1 winner Next Destination is a son of Dubai Destination (Kingmambo) and one of the best runners over jumps for the former Dalham Hall and Glenview Stud sire. While he made an impressive start to his stud career with a Group 1 winning juvenile in his first crop thanks to Ibn Khaldun, Dubai Destination’s star waned and he went to Glenview as a dual-purpose stallion.

In the meanwhile he has made a name for himself as a broodmare sire on the flat and is the dam sire of Group 1 stars Golden Horn and Postponed, among others. On the flat he sired a total of 14 group winners, including a couple of Italian classic winners, and moved to Glenview Stud in 2010.

Next Generation is from his second crop conceived at Glenview, as is Elegant Escape, the Colin Tizzard-trained six-year-old who made the best possible start to his new season at Sandown last weekend when victorious in the Listed Future Stars Intermediate Chase. A two-time hurdle winner having failed to win a point-to-point, he was successful last season in a Grade 2 novice chase at Newbury, runner-up in a Grade 1 at Kempton and then ran third in the Grade 1 RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham (to Presenting Percy) and the Grade 1 Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree.

Elegant Escape was bred by Jay Leahy from Graineuaile (Orchestra), a mare he purchased for just IR£400 at Tattersalls Ireland nearly 20 years ago.

A point-to-point winner, she went on to capture a mares’ chase at Clonmel before retiring to the breeding shed. Elegant Escape is easily her best runner and he is a full-brother to a winner and half-brother to two more.

You have to go back to Elegant Escape’s fourth dam Irish Beauty (Even Money) to find the next blacktype performers. She is the grandam of The Screamer (Insan) who won a listed handicap hurdle at Listowel, and is third dam of Lotomore Lad (Good Thyne), a Grade 3 novice handicap chase winning mare.