Graceful gets up late for Whelan Ronan Whelan successfully teamed up with his boss Jim Bolger for the second time at Wexford this afternoon as Something Graceful came late to take the Slaney Handicap. The Whelan/Bolger combination were on the mark in the opener with Morga and subsequently completed a treble on the card with Irish Bulletin. Benbecula set out in his customary front-running role and with over a furlong to run it looked as if the top-weight would complete a memorable few minutes for trainer Johnny Murtagh, who had just partnered his fourth King George winner on the German-trained Novellist at Ascot. However the leader wilted in the closing stages as Something Graceful got up in the final 50 yards to score by half a length, with Phangio finishing best of all to dead-heat for second place. Whelan said, “Two furlongs out I thought he’d slipped me but then I felt him coming back to me, and a furlong out I always thought I was going to get there. She has been called a few names in the past but she was gutsy today.” Additional reporting by Donal Murphy
