‘Thriving’ Storm Boy set for northern hemispher debut in Group 3 Greenlands Stakes at The Curragh

New trainer Aidan O’Brien will tread the path that Merchant Navy followed to success when he unveils Magic Millions winner Storm Boy for his northern hemisphere debut at The Curragh later this month.

James McDonald rides Storm Boy to victory in the Group 2 Skyline Stakes at Royal Randwick in March last year. Picture: Jeremy Ng / Getty Images

Coolmore’s crack colt Storm Boy is set to make his international debut at Ireland’s The Curragh racecourse next week.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien has entered the former brilliant Sydney sprinter for the Group 3 Greenlands Stakes on May 24 in preparation for a Royal Ascot campaign aimed at the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Stakes next month.

This is the same program O’Brien set for another former Australian sprinter, Merchant Navy, who won both races seven years ago.

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“We have entered Storm Boy for the Greenlands Stakes,’’ confirmed Tom Magnier, the boss of Coolmore Australia.

“It’s going to be a surprisingly good field, there are a lot of top sprinters entered for that race.

“But I know Aidan is very happy with Storm Boy and the plan is to run him at The Curragh next week.’’

Storm Boy was trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott to win five of his 10 starts including last year’s Magic Millions 2yo Classic, Group 2 Skyline Stakes and Group 3 San Domenico Stakes, earning more than $3.5 million prizemoney.

Storm Boy thunders away in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic! ⛈️@GaiWaterhouse1@[e-mail]/pXRn6HkUPL

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) January 13, 2024

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Coolmore purchased Storm Boy for an undisclosed sum believed to be around $20 million before the Golden Slipper last year in which the colt ran third to stablemate Lady Of Camelot.

Storm Boy was sent to Ireland after he ran eighth in The Everest to Bella Nipotina last October.

Magnier said Storm Boy had thrived since joining O’Brien’s famous Ballydoyle stables and there was a sense of optimism about the colt’s chances in the feature sprints during the northern hemisphere summer.

“Aidan is having an unbelievable start to the season, his horses are flying, and he has said Storm Boy is in a really good place,’’ Magnier said.

“Ryan Moore will ride Storm Boy next week and we are going to learn a lot on the day. We are hoping to get the horse to Royal Ascot but we will see what happens in the Greenlands.’’

Originally published as ‘Thriving’ Storm Boy set for northern hemispher debut in Group 3 Greenlands Stakes at The Curragh