Soldier Of Fortune had nine lengths to spare at the finish

Seamus Heffernan took Soldier Of Fortune into the lead with two furlongs to go and he had nine lengths to spare from Alexander Of Hales at the finish.

Favourite Eagle Mountain, ridden by Kieren Fallon, was in third as O'Brien claimed his fifth Irish Derby win.

Soldier Of Fortune finished fifth in the Epsom Derby where Eagle Mountain took second behind Authorized.

Interview: Irish Derby winning trainer Aidan O'Brien

Having attracted support in the build-up to the race, Heffernan's mount was eventually sent off at 5-1 and he produced a devastating turn of foot to slam his rivals in the 12-furlong feature.

The fourth O'Brien runner, Spanish Harlem, was soon kicked into an early lead by Fran Berry and that pair set a reasonable gallop at the head of affairs.

606: DEBATE It's quite amazing for one yard to have so many top class horses BM

As those early exploits began to take their toll, Boscobel briefly took over in the hands of Joe Fanning but the Sheikh Mohammed-owned colt was soon sending out the distress signals as Soldier Of Fortune cruised alongside.

Eagle Mountain was delivered out wide but Kieren Fallon never looked like getting to grips with O'Brien's supposed second string.

And as Heffernan pressed the button, Soldier Of Fortune found a stunning change of gear on his way to registering a nine-length verdict.

The King George is a definite possibility Aidan O'Brien

Aidan O'Brien said that Soldier Of Fortune could now be aimed at the King George.

"He was in good form physically going into Epsom, but after that race his expression changed and he has been coming into the barn every morning with a smile on his face," added O'Brien.

"He has been improving all the time and has definitely been happier since Epsom.

"The King George is a definite possibility, but there are other horses there like Dylan Thomas and Scorpion. We will sit down and have a meeting during the week and everything will be decided."

O'Brien paid tribute to winning jockey Heffernan.

"This is really special for Seamus. Nobody puts in more work than him, he rides all the horses every day.

"He is getting better and better every year and you can see that today. He is maturing all the time and really deserved this."

O'Brien added that the "very heavy ground" had caused Eagle Mountain to "struggle a long way out".

Jockey Heffernan described the victory as the "greatest moment of my career so far".

"I was confident going into the race with the way the ground was. It's not a big surprise at all," added Heffernan.

Budweiser Irish Derby

1. Soldier Of Fortune (Seamus Heffernan) 5-1
2. Alexander of Hales (Michael Kinane) 33-1
3. Eagle Mountain (Kieren Fallon) 6-4 Fav
4. Boscobel (Joe Fanning) 8-1
11 ran. Dist: 9, shd