Girolamo’s reputation preceded him, but on Sunday at Belmont Park he blew right by the hype in the stretch and showed he is one serious racehorse.

Traveling wide the entire way, Girolamo sat patiently behind multiple graded stakes winner Kensei, moved to the front on the far turn and pulled away in the stretch to win the 140th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Jerome by 1¼ lengths.

The Godolphin Stable-owned son of champion A.P. Indy completed the one-turn mile in a torrid 1:33.81, getting the final quarter-mile in just a shade over 24 seconds. As the 4-5 favorite in the field of five 3-year-olds, Girolamo paid $3.60 for a $2 win ticket.

Burley’s Gold rallied for second, while Kensei finished third, Denver fourth and pace-maker Pitched Perfectly fifth.

Although he scored the first stakes victory of his young, six-race career in electrifying style, his connections tempered their superlatives.

“It was a best-case scenario,” said Rick Mettee, assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor. “We thought we’d be lying where we were. [Jockey] Alan [Garcia] did the right thing laying off [Edgar] Prado on Kensei. He was able to outfight that other horse [Kensei], who’s obviously a good horse.”

Garcia added, “I only had to hit him a couple of times in the stretch, and after that I knew I had the race won. I stopped riding and let him do it on his own. He’s a very nice horse.”

Girolamo, now 4-for-6 in his career with earnings of $201,300, is stout and powerful. His workout October 2 at Belmont —59.44 for five furlongs — had railbirds buzzing, but in his two allowance scores this year he had never faced a runner like Kensei.

The winner of the Grade 2 Dwyer at Belmont and Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga had been training well, too, for the Jerome, and Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, said the race had been a target for the horse.

When the gate opened, long shot Pitched Perfectly broke for the lead and opened up by two lengths after a quarter-mile in 22.95 seconds. Kensei stalked in second, while Girolamo, who broke a step slow, moved to the outside behind the leaders.

Moving on to the far turn, Prado sent Kensei to the lead and Girolamo engaged him as they swung for home. The battle was short-lived as Girolamo surged to command while Burley’s Gold, always within contact of the leaders, charged into second place while drifting out in the lane.

“He sat right off the speed very nicely, and turning for home he gave me a good run,” said Ramon Dominguez, who rode Burley’s Gold. “Unfortunately, the winner didn’t really come back as much as I would have liked, but I was very pleased with my horse.”

Before the Jerome, Mettee mentioned the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile or the Grade 1, $300,000 Hill n’ Dale Cigar Mile on November 28 at Aqueduct as possible next starts for Girolamo, but he wanted to get through this step first. Those big goals became a lot more realistic with the victory.

“I haven’t spoken to Saeed yet,” Mettee said. “There are a lot of ways to go.”