Galileo confirmed his domination of the three-year-old ranks when spreadeagling his field to add the Budweiser Irish Derby to his recent Vodafone Derby success at the Curragh yesterday and left few in the 30,092 crowd doubting they had witnessed one of the most impressive Classic winners in years.
The unbeaten Aidan O'Brien-trained colt became the 14th horse to complete the Epsom-Curragh Derby double by beating the 20 to 1 outsider Morshdi by four lengths and it was the same distance back to Golan in third.
Afterwards, Kinane, who was having his 18th ride in the race, returned to a tumultuous reception and grinned: "It's a long time coming and these things can build up in your mind but this horse makes everything so simple. It's a sign of a great horse that you can pick him out as the winner after just a furlong and that was the case today."
The only moments of anxiety occurred at the start, when Galileo sweated up, and when he took the lead at the two furlong pole and momentarily shied away from the stands.
"Going to the start he had seen the band and coming back he picked them out again but the ground could have swallowed up this horse and he would still have won," said Kinane (42), who was completing a clean sweep of Irish classic races.
The winner, which is owned by the Coolmore supremo John Magnier and London-born Michael Tabor, is a second Irish Derby winner for Aidan O'Brien who dismissed concerns about Galileo's sweating.
"He wasn't sweating more than me!" said the 31-year-old trainer who has now won his sixth Classic of a remarkable season.
O'Brien added: "I thought he was magic today. He is just a very special horse, a perfect athlete who finds all of this so easy. From the first day we have had him, he has been special and all options are open for him."
An immediate target will have to be discussed between connections but the Breeders' Cup Classic over a mile and a quarter on dirt in Belmont Park, New York is Galileo's ultimate target. Cashmans bookmakers make the Irish horse a 5 to 1 chance for that race behind the 2 to 1 American favourite, Point Given. Kieren Fallon blamed his stall one draw for a lacklustre effort from Golan and said; "I had a terrible draw and I couldn't ride a race. The winner was impressive but the number one draw was impossible."
The 100 to 1 shot Pugin led the field to the two furlong pole where Galileo took over and it was the Italian Derby winner Morshdi who fared best of the struggling rest. It was Morshdi's rider Philip Robinson that summed up the general mood at the Curragh: "Mine is a good horse but the winner is even more serious."
