Aidan O’Brien trained-Sovereign romped to victory in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby giving the trainer his 13th success in this spectacle and caused a huge upset at the same time.
The son of Galileo gave his half brother, stablemate, race favourite and the Investec Derby hero, Anthony Van Dyck, a grand run for his money.
The stands almost fell silent as the shot crossed the line six lengths ahead of Anthony Van Dyck to give jockey Padraig Beggy a second Classic success after his Epsom win on chance Wings Of Eagles in 2017.
O'Brien landed 1-2-3 with stablemate Norway in third place.
The Galileo brothers were eight lengths clear with four furlongs to go and did not come back to the field as might have been expected, with Sovereign, who was only 10th at Epsom, keeping up the gallop and never looking like being caught.
Anthony Van Dyck was two and a half lengths ahead of third-placed Norway, with Madhmoon just behind in fourth.
Sovereign is now being aimed at the St Leger.
Full Finishing list 2019
1st Sovereign (A. O'Brien,P. Beggy ), 2nd Anthony Van Dyck (A. O'Brien,R. Moore), 3rd Norway (A. O'Brien,S. Heffernan), 4th Madhmoon (K. Prendergast,C. Hayes ), 5th Guaranteed (J. Bolger,K. Manning), 6th Broome (A. O'Brien,D. O'Brien), 7th Il Paradiso (A. O'Brien,W. Lordan), 8th Rakan (D. Weld,J. Crowley)
Race Info:
Distance: 1m 4f (2,414 metres), Surface: Turf, Track: Right-handed, Qualification: Three-year-olds,excluding geldings, Weight: 9 st 0 lb,Allowances,3 lb for fillies, Purse: €1,500,000 (2018),1st: €855,000