JAMES Whelan drove to Kilkenny to view a filly on the recommendation of a friend. He’d been viewing fillies on behalf of himself and his pal, Jay Bradley. It was in Castlecomer, Kilkenny, that he saw the filly who would go on to be Craft Irish, who won her second race of the season at Sligo last week.

A daughter of promising young stallion Adaay, Craft Irish was a half-sister to a winner and was in training with Pat Murphy. The trainer has had over 20 winners in the past five seasons, boasting an impressive 10% strike-rate.