Strong Whelan drive gets Prince up Tom Hogan recorded his first winner of the 2014 flat season as his Elusive Prince got up close home to claim the Killarney Grand Live Music Venue Handicap under Ronan Whelan. The six-year-old son of Storming Home won four times in the UK when trained by David Barron and he was sold for just £7,000 at the Doncaster Sales in November of 2012. He made his debut for Hogan the following February at Dundalk and after showing little on seven starts since he was sent off a 25/1 chance this afternoon. Fitted with a tongue strap for the first time today he raced behind the leaders on the outer for much of the contest. He was ridden in third over two furlongs out and under a strong Ronan Whelan drive he got up in the closing stages, scoring by a half a length at the line. Six Silver Lane (7/2 from 4's on-course) hit the front two furlongs out but he couldn’t hold off the challenge of the winner and had to settle for second under Fran Berry for Johnny Feane, while the 10/3 favourite California Rose was just a short head back in third under Conor Hoban for Pat Martin. Tom Hogan said afterwards: "He keeps plenty for himself and I thought he was never going to show it. "Ronan gave him an absolutely brilliant ride. He is a first class rider. "He is a great work horse and he serves a great job at home for Gordon Lord Byron. "He wasn't coming out of the stalls with the blinkers on him so we gave him a lot of schooling through stalls with the blinkers on. "He is a bit of character and he has a mind of his own." Additional reporting by Alan Magee
