A swelteringly humid day at the Curragh seemed to demand peels of thunder but instead received an equine bolt of lightening called Galileo.
A total of 13 other horses have completed the Epsom-Curragh Derby double and some of them make up the reference points we use for greatness in this sport.
But Galileo's performance yesterday was enough for even seasoned cynics to use names like Nijinsky and Troy in classical comparison to racing's newest superstar - and keep deadly straight faces while doing so.
The 4 to 11 favourite crossed the line to huge cheers from the vast crowd in a time of 2 min, 27.1 secs, a remarkable 6.8 secs faster than the mark achieved by Sinndar on similar ground last year.
Nobody normally can keep a straighter face than Michael Kinane but even the joy at knocking that Irish Derby bogey on the head couldn't totally explain the wide smile and happy waves to the appreciative crowd as Galileo paraded in front the jubilantly packed stands.
The hungry press pack has been trying to pin the usually stony-faced Kinane down since Epsom that Galileo is the best he has ridden in an illustrious career. Yesterday the 42-year-old former champion jockey seemed to give in to the inevitable.
"It is very rare that you ride a horse and feel in total control for the whole race but this is such a horse. Where others start to struggle, he still goes easily. The key is that he has such pace. 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," said Kinane whose 17 previous Derby rides had yielded three runner-up placings and an embarrassing desertion of the subsequent 1996 winner Zagreb.
In contrast, Ireland's richest race has been relatively friendly to trainer Aidan O'Brien who won it with Desert King in 1997. But the normally reticent master of Ballydoyle needed no prompting to eulogise Galileo.
Phrases like "unbelievable" and "so natural" tumbled from his mouth but as regards future plans for the colt, O'Brien played a straight bat, no doubt preferring to relish the moment.
"All options are open with this horse. He can go anywhere from a mile to a mile and a half. The Breeders' Cup Classic is his end of season target but there are a lot of options before that like the King George, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II," he said.
Intriguingly, O'Brien did admit to some pre-Epsom nerves about whether a horse that possesses such awesome acceleration could actually stay a mile and a half.
"I wasn't sure. It was always a big doubt in my mind but he finds it so easy. He has this gear that the others can't live with and which he can stay in easily. He grew up at Epsom but today was the first time he has turned right handed and when they turned into the straight, he didn't know Michael was pulling him up or showing him the band!" he said.
Galileo even seemed to sweat with style. The colt was awash at the start but stood still as he was wiped down and it's that sort of temperament that will help him in the challenges to come. It's unlikely that any of the horses who finished behind yesterday will be keen for another crack at him.
Morshdi, four lengths back in second, was given a 6 to 1 quote by Ladbrokes for the King George but his rider Philip Robinson admitted : "Mine is a serious horse but the winner is even more serious."
Kieren Fallon blamed his number one draw for Golan's lack of spark but Nial McCullagh on the fourth, Pugin, was delighted and said: "He's run a very honest race and looks a real Leger type who will appreciate soft ground."
On a blue riband day for Ballydoyle, the only black type failure for the yard was Ishiguru's head defeat by the English raider Repertory in the Listed sprint. In contrast, Rock Of Gibralter defeated his stable mate Hawk Wing in the Group Three Railway Stakes and Bach landed the Listed mile race.
