Dubai: Gleneagles is fast emerging into a superstar befitting his sire and champion Irish stallion Galileo, after becoming only the eighth horse in history to complete the difficult English-Irish 2,000 Guineas (G1) double.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien, who was notching a record 10th victory in the contest and 33rd Irish Classic overall, Gleneagles needed to overcome a tricky passage in the closing stages of the race before prevailing by ¾ length from Endless Drama, while Ivawood was ½ length further back in third.

Godolphin’s Dante Stakes (G1) winner Belardo came with a strong run from the back of the 11 runner field to finish a game fourth, ½ length behind the front three.

The winner was given a typically self-assured ride by red-hot jockey Ryan Moore, who was winning a first Irish 2,000 Guineas, having claimed the fillies’ equivalent 12 months ago aboard the O’Brien-trained Marvellous.

“The ground is just slow enough for him and just blunted his pace a bit,” Moore told Ireland’s RTE. “He didn’t have a lot of room, but he had the gears and the class to go through. He put his head down and fought well at the end, he’s a very exciting colt.

“I felt I was on the best horse, and when you’re on the best horse invariably the gaps come. He just showed enough class in the end.”

O’Brien added: “I’m delighted with him. He travelled well and quickened well and Ryan gave him a great ride.

“He had to come when he came and he was courageous. He has a load of pace, as he showed at Newmarket, and might have laboured a bit on that ground.

“He has a big heart as well as everything else.”

Gleneagles is a 3/1 chance, with a run, with most British bookmakers, although his joint owner John Magnier indicated that it is unlikely option.

“We paid for the option [of the Derby], so we are hardly going to declare it today without being clever about it, but it’s unlikely,” he said.

“We’ll have to discuss it with Michael [Tabor], Derrick [Smith], Aidan and all the lads, but it looks pretty obvious.”

Earlier Mustajeeb, an exciting sprinting prospect owned by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, made a huge impression on his seasonal debut when beating a classy field in the Greenlands Stakes also at the Curragh.

The winner is trained by Dermot Weld and was ridden by Pat Smullen, who said: “He could be a very, very good sprinter this year, he has so much pace.

“I’ve thought for a long time he was a sprinter, he’s been showing so much pace.”