Is Aidan O'Brien's Australian sprinter Storm Boy the new Starspangledbanner?

Storm a star in the making?

In 2010 an Australian colt by the name of Starspangledbanner, in the care of Aidan O’Brien, took the European sprinting scene by storm. Fifteen years on an Australian colt by the name of Storm Boy, in the care of Aidan O’Brien, could be the European sprinting scene’s new star.

There are plenty of similarities between the two. Both colts were Australian-born by fashionable sires; Starspangledbanner a son of world-class sprinter Choisir, Storm Boy by US Triple Crown winner Justify, and both made their name by reeling off a sequence of impressive victories Down Under.

While Starspangledbanner came to prominence as a three-year-old, winning four times in a six-race spell that included the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas and Oakleigh Plate, Storm Boy burst onto the scene at two, his Magic Millions success at the Gold Coast and Skyline Stakes win at Randwick two particular highlights.

Both were mega-money purchases by Coolmore on the back of such performances. Starspangledbanner cost a reported A$10million in 2010, Storm Boy a reported A$50million in 2024. Big money indeed.

Starspangledbanner’s Australian form was slightly stronger, he had won at the top level after all, and he was rated 117 when he first turned out for O’Brien in the spring of 2010.

That was in the Duke Of York Stakes at York where he was only fifth, but he went into Royal Ascot as favourite for the Golden Jubilee and delivered in style, the result coming as no surprise to his trainer who eulogised about his talents in the aftermath (more on that in a bit).

Three weeks later he won the July Cup and he remains one of only four horses to complete the Jubilee-July Cup double this century.

If Storm Boy is the next Starspangledbanner, it’s going to be an exciting summer.

Can he Justify the price tag?

Coolmore’s backing of Justify seems to know no bounds, the fee involved in the Storm Boy purchase further evidence of that.

After Justify’s most high-profile son City Of Troy won the Derby last June, O’Brien was quick to praise his stallion, saying: “Justifys are Galileos with more class, which is a very hard thing to say, but we see it every day. The stride, the minds, the movement of them, they are quicker than Galileos, which makes them unbelievably exciting for us."

For all that speed has been a weapon for Justify progeny, we have mainly seen that over middle-distance trips so far and it will be fascinating to see if Storm Boy can translate the pace he showed in Australia at two to the sprinting division in Europe.

He undoubtedly gets some of his speed from his dam, Pelican, who was a five and six-furlong winner in Australia in the Coolmore colours. Indeed, Storm Boy was ‘raised and grazed’ at Coolmore, Tom Magnier underlining that connection was another reason why they were so keen to "be involved with another of Justify’s best sons globally".

Storm Boy ran well in four races in the last Australian spring for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, winning first time out at three at Rosehill in the Group 3 Smithfield RSL San Domenico Stakes over five-and-a-half furlongs where he showed his trademark speed (watch on YouTube, below).

Third in the Group 2 Run To The Rose, fourth in the Golden Rose and then a two-length eighth in the £10,000,000 TAB Everest when last seen at Randwick in October, his Australian profile hints at enormous potential.

And we all know what O’Brien can do when he gets his hands on a project like that.

O’Brien and his southern hemisphere imports

But if you need a reminder, here’s a quick recap.

• Haradasun, 2008. Trained by Tony Vasil in Australia, this son of Fusaichi Pegasus came to Ballydoyle with a big reputation and he first turned out for O’Brien in the Lockinge Stakes under Johnny Murtagh where he was sixth. Next time out, though, he showed his true colours, winning the Queen Anne Stakes by a head in gutsy fashion after a mad scramble for the winning line. It turned out to be his last ever run. O’Brien said: “He was very naturally fast from day one - a great cruiser - and you can see why everyone was excited about him in Australia.”
• Starspangledbanner, 2010. Yes, we’ve covered him at length already. But here are those quotes from Aidan in the aftermath of his Jubilee win. “His fractions are incredible. Horses don't go 9.5 seconds to the furlong in their work at Ballydoyle, but this colt did that in his final gallop before this race. I'm not going to say he's the Usain Bolt of horse racing - I'd be accused of 'hyping' him - but I can say these are the facts. His times were there in black and white. I've got to it we had to go back and check them to make sure the GPS systems were right, but that's him. He's a great horse."
• So You Think, 2011. Unlike Haradasun and Starspangledbanner, who both lost on their first start for O’Brien, So You Think hit the ground running with a 10-length success in the Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh. After that he landed the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at the same track (at odds of 1/7) before he was narrowly beaten at 4/11 in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot by Godolphin’s Rewilding. Four more Group 1 victories, including a pulsating Coral-Eclipse win over Derby winner Workforce, were to come in a stellar career. O’Brien said: “We’d heard how special he was. But you don’t really know, it can be mystery and fantasy until you see it close up yourself.. Now we’ve taken the lid off – ever so slightly – we can see and feel and believe that aura. He’s an incredible specimen.”

• Merchant Navy, 2018. Trained by Ciaron Maher and then Aaron Purcell in Australia, this son of Fastnet Rock won the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington before he was shipped to O’Brien in the spring of 2018. He first appeared for his new trainer in the Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh, which he won, before he landed Royal Ascot glory from ’s City Light in an international renewal of the Jubilee. A blueprint for Storm Boy, then. O’Brien said: “He’s an incredible horse for what he did. We thought it was kind of impossible to do what he did. When he won the first day we thought he hadn’t had enough time to acclimatise, but obviously he did. He won with a penalty and the weights all against him, and then he went on to Ascot and did the same thing. He was an incredibly natural horse. He had a great mind, was a great mover, was a very clean-winded horse and was very tough and genuine. It was a privilege to have him.”

Where could Storm Boy slot into the sprint division?

Back to Storm Boy. He’s all set to line up in the Group 2 Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh this Saturday.

After what happened to Haradasun and Starspangledbanner on their first starts for O’Brien, a defeat wouldn’t be a disaster. But connections will be hoping for more of a So You Think performance, hitting the ground running, and this race offers him the chance to do just that.

The likes of My Mate Alfie and Lethal Levi are good sprinters, but they’re not Group 1 level and if Storm Boy is to muscle his way into the top echelons of the division at Royal Ascot you would think he’d need to at least go close to winning this weekend.

In a recent stable tour on these pages O’Brien said of Storm Boy: “He’s fast. Before he came down [from Australia], 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. The plan is to go to Ascot with maybe a run at the Curragh in the Greenlands beforehand. He’s quick and you’d be very happy with everything he’s doing."

He’s entered in both the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes (five furlongs) and Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (six furlongs) at Royal Ascot. He’s a best price 7/1 for the former and 6/1 for the latter.

It’s an open division. Last year’s Group 1 winners in the five and six-furlong sprints in Europe were Asfoora, Khaadem, Mill Stream, Bradsell (x2), Montassib, Makarova and Kind Of Blue.

There’s certainly room for this Aussie speedball to take Royal Ascot by storm.

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