Doctor Grace and Ronan Whelan won the Navan Handicap for owners Dundalk Racing Club © Photo Healy Racing
Ronan Whelan timed it well on Doctor Grace as he notched a double on the card at Navan this afternoon.
The Buratino filly, trained by Michael Halford and Tracey Collins, was produce with a strong run on the outer to challenge a furlong-and-a-half from home.
She got to the front inside the final 100 yards and the 6/1 shot kept on well close home to beat Nawraq by half a length.
The winner had been knocking on the door recently and was second on her most recent outing at Leopardstown last month.
Halford said:- "She wasn't winning out of turn.
"She had a horrendous draw that day (fourth here in June) - she was drawn 23 and she is a filly that takes a while to warm up into her races, so she got into a difficult position that day and it was too much for her. That race produced a lot of winners.
"She ran a blinder then back in Leopardstown (in second), so she isn't winning out of turn.
"She is rock-solid in that grade and always runs her race for you when she gets conditions right.
"I'm delighted for the Dundalk Racing Club, they are great supporters of racing in general. They take great pleasure in it."
(Quotes by Michael Graham)
