It's now over 18 months since a cold afternoon at the Curragh produced a surprise maiden winner called Hardy.

There was nothing remarkable about the horse. Yes, he was by Mr Prospector but his lowly reputation at Ballydoyle meant he drifted like a canoe in the betting ring. Nevertheless, on his day of glory he danced home by five lengths.

Aidan O'Brien greeted him in the winner's enclosure with delighted surprise and declared: "You can't beat blood".

Horses, and the process of breeding horses, are notoriously resistant to hard and fast rules but if, indeed, blood cannot be beaten, then it must be odds-on that Galileo will be, in tonight's Classic.

By Sadler's Wells out of a mud loving Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winning mare, Galileo's credentials for running on dirt are anything but obvious on pedigree.

"I've never seen a Sadler's Wells horse run well on dirt," declared the top American trainer Bobby Frankel during the week, and it's hard to argue with him.

On performance, there have been some wonderful displays from Galileo this season but all of them have been over a mile and a half. His attempt at this trip saw a good 5lb turnaround in form with Fantastic Light in the Irish Champion Stakes.

Instead of Fantastic Light, Galileo now faces Sakhee in the Godolphin blue and the best that America can throw at him, in spite of a post draw for Aptitude that trainer Frankel describes as worse than lousy.

Certainly at odds of 3 to 1 or worse, Galileo is no value bet tonight. Nor is Sakhee who had a harder race than might be imagined in the Arc.

But it's not absolutely beyond the bounds of reason that Aidan O'Brien could still end up winning.

Black Minnaloushe has already confounded the formbook once this season in the Irish 2,000 Guineas. Then he won at Ascot, after which both O'Brien and John Murtagh declared they thought the Classic would be ideal for the horse.

It's easy to see why. A dirt pedigree, a cruising speed that allows him travel easily off any pace and confidence in his ability to stay the trip are hard to argue with.

Murtagh also seems to get on especially well with Black Minnaloushe and at long odds the O'Brien second string doesn't look the most outrageous each-way bet of the year in a race where low profile three-year-olds have a strong record.

Of the other O'Brien runners, Johannesburg looks to have a shout if staying the Mile, but Mozart will hardly be able to dominate from the front as he likes in the Sprint.

That tough customer Bach could be an each-way bet in the Mile, as could Milan in the Turf, but Sophisticat looks to have it all to do in the Juvenile Fillies.