Galileo still on Derby course Vodafone Derby second-favourite Galileo extended his unbeaten record in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown today. The odds-on favourite responded well to a crack of the whip inside the final furlong by Seamus Heffernan to defeat Exaltation and the front-running El Bueno decisively. 'The dream lives on,' was the immediate post-race reaction of champion Irish trainer Aidan O`Brien, who has always held the superbly-bred Galileo in the highest regard. 'He quickened up well off a good, even gallop and will stay a lot further,' was the verdict of winning rider Heffernan, who was runner-up in the Group Three contest last year behind subsequent Epsom hero Sinndar. El Bueno made the running on ground that was described as 'fast but safe', and although Galileo took 3.36 seconds longer for the 10 furlongs than Sinndar last year, most observers seemed impressed, including the ante-post layers. Mike Dillon from Ladbrokes makes Galileo 4-1 (from 6-1) behind Sagitta 2000 Guineas winner Golan (2-1), but Irish firm Paddy Power make Golan 9-4 first market choice and cut Galileo just a point to 5-1. O`Brien was confident beforehand that the winner, a son of champion stallion Sadler`s Wells and the Arc heroine Urban Sea, would not be inconvenienced by the quickest going he has yet encountered. 'He has the action of a good ground horse and every time Seamus asked him there was plenty there. He is built like a miler and has plenty of speed,' he enthused. O`Brien also indicated that Milan, a fast finisher at Longchamp in the Prix Lupin, would be going back to Paris for the French Derby at Chantilly. Second-favourite Rayyana was a big disappointment in the Derby trial, finishing last of the five with her jockey, Johnny Murtagh, reporting: 'She just never picked up.' Rayyana`s stable companion Exaltation stepped up on his debut maiden victory at the Dublin track to finish a one and a half length runner-up to Galileo, having briefly disputed the lead approaching the final furlong before the favourite asserted. The Derrinstown Stud 1000 Guineas Trial produced a form upset when Jim Bolger`s home-bred Speirbhean made all the running to deny Godolphin`s newcomer Najah, as the pair went right away from the opposition on the climb to the post. Najah, who had gone well in the Godolphin trials in Dubai earlier in the spring, was driven up by Willie Supple to join Speirbhean over a furlong out, but Kevin Manning got a willing response from Bolger`s daughter of Danehill and the 12-1 chance got home by half a length.
