IT was a decidedly quiet weekend at the Curragh for Ballydoyle with only two very minor wins when they would probably have expected five or six. That said, the weekend was not a total loss and there was a very promising maiden winner in the shape of Iberia (90p).

It’s well-known that O’Brien allows his horses to come on for the run so a first-time-out winner is always worth noting. From a betting perspective, Ballydoyle’s dominance runs so deep that, as well known a fact as their improvement for a run is, most of their first time out charges still go off a prohibitive price. Despite being the stable first string with Ryan Moore aboard, however, Iberia remained a backable price all day suggesting plenty of improvement was expected.

He was one of the first off the bridle, looked beaten before switching out and finishing with a real surge, clearly still learning on the job. The overall time was ordinary but, Galileo-bred, we can expect further improvement for another furlong and you’d suspect we’ll see him in pattern races before long. This comment also applies to his stablemate Russian Emperor (84p), who finished with a similar flourish having himself shown plenty of inexperience.

A quieter than usual weekend for Ballydoyle bled into the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes with the first four places filled by messrs Halford and Lyons and mses Lavery and Harrington. The winner, the Halford-trained Roman Turbo (98), looks the main takeaway particularly with improvement likely over a trip closer to a mile. In a not dissimilar fashion to Iberia, he was first off the bridle but gave most generously under pressure and was well on top at the line. The Ger Lyons-trained Soulsearch (92) was the other eyecatcher in the race having travelled smoothly in rear but looking inexperienced when asked to initially pick up. Still a maiden, she has a bright future ahead of her at around this trip.