All eyes will be on Aidan O’Brien’s exciting Australian recruit Storm Boy in Saturday’s Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh, but connections of former high-class two-year-old Iberian will be among those hoping to spoil the party in what looks a competitive renewal of the Group 2.

Storm Boy was among the best of his generation in Australia as a two-year-old and follows the same route as O’Brien’s 2018 Greenlands winner Merchant Navy, another former Australian sprint star who was also making his European debut when winning the race.

Merchant Navy went on to win Royal Ascot’s Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes before retiring to stud, and Storm Boy is already vying for favouritism in the same race, as well as the King Charles III Stakes. He arrived from Australia with five wins under his belt, plus third place in the TAB Golden Slipper Stakes, when Ryan Moore got a taste of him in what is well established now as the world’s richest two-year-old race, and there is no doubting his talent. 

Storm Boy hasn’t been on the racecourse since October, when he finished only eighth in the TAB Everest Stakes at Randwick, but O’Brien has been making very positive noises about how he has settled in, and the Weatherbys Ireland Greenland Stakes has long been the likely starting point for him.

In a Racing Post stable tour last month O’Brien, who also took top sprint honours with yet another ex-Australian sprinter in Starspangledbanner, said: “He’s fast. Before he came down, we didn't know whether he'd want six furlongs, seven furlongs or a mile but he's very quick and is definitely a sprinter - that was very apparent the minute he stepped up a gear.”

Ominously, he added that “You'd be very happy with everything he's doing,” but while Storm Boy undoubtedly merits every respect, this is a race in which British sprinters have done well in recent years. Charlie Hills, for one, is very hopeful that Iberian will take another important step along the redemption trail by following up the stable’s 2024 Greenlands win with Mitbaahy.

Iberian, one of five British sprinters in a possible field of ten, beat next-time-out Group 1 winners Sunway and Rosallion in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster at two, after which only City Of Troy was preferred to him in the Dewhurst betting. However, he disappointed there, and again in the 2000 Guineas, and it was only at Southwell last December that he began to get back on track. 

He followed a narrow win there with a neck second to Spycatcher in Doncaster’s Cammidge Trophy, where he burst through looking much the best horse in the race until veering left and interfering with two rivals, and his trainer now has little doubt that he is ready for this step back up in class.

Hills said: “My horses were really out of sorts for much of last year and Iberian was one of the worst hit. His two-year-old form had been really strong and he beat those good horses quite convincingly at Doncaster, but he then just seemed to lose his way.

“Luckily the owners (Teme Valley and the Ballylinch Stud) have been fantastic and they’ve been really patient. Although he effectively missed last year almost completely, we got him back at Southwell and then he ran a really nice race at Doncaster, where he came through the field to win but rather seemed to throw it away, veering away from the stick when he hit the front. He still finished the race off so well that he almost got backup.” 

He added: “We could have gone to York last week, but that’s a quick six furlongs and I think the stiff six at the Curragh will suit him well. We made an entry at Salisbury on Saturday too to give ourselves options, as the forecast was unsettled at the start of the week, but the Greenlands has always been the preferred option and that’s where he’ll go.

“He’s not really bred to sprint, as he’s by Lope de Vega out of a High Chaparral mare, but he’s got a lot of pace and I think he’ll get better as a sprinter. He’s hopefully improving step by step back to where he was and he should have a nice chance on Saturday, after which we’ll be looking at the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot if all goes well. He’s got a lot of natural talent and has always looked like a very good horse.”

The Abernant Stakes second and third, Grand Grey and Lethal Levi, are among four other possibles from Britain, along with James’s Delight, who was one of those hampered by Iberian at Doncaster, and No Half Measures. Grand Grey, who will carry the old Via Sistina colours, finished well at Newmarket and looks particularly interesting, as that was his first run for Kevin Ryan after his 340,000 Euro purchase from France.

Joining Storm Boy among the domestic defence is the Ger Lyons-trained My Mate Alfie, a three-time course and distance winner, including in the Group 3 Renaissance Stakes. He beat Big Gossey, who is set to reoppose, that day, and having been only narrowly beaten at Naas on his reappearance he looks sure to give a good account of himself.