[4] King Persian made his racecourse debut in a maiden race over six furlongs of firm ground at Gowran Park in July and won easily.
Ridden by Michael Kinane, King Persian stumbled exiting the starting stalls and settled towards the rear of the field as Gala Event set a very fast pace.
Racing on softer ground at the Curragh on 10 September King Persian started second favourite for the National Stakes but finished fifth of the eight runners behind El Gran Senor.
[2] At the end of the season, the independent Timeform organisation gave King Persian a rating of 104, making him 27 pounds inferior to El Gran Senor, who was their best two-year-old.
In the Irish Free Handicap he was rated 17 pounds behind El Gran Senor, making him the sixth best Irish-trained colt of his generation.
Later that month the colt was given a radically different assignment when he was sent to England to contest the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes over one and a half miles at York and finished fifth behind Rainbow Quest.