Desert Prince

Desert Prince began his racing career in a six furlong maiden race at Doncaster Racecourse on 24 May. Ridden by Kevin Darley he started the 2/5 favourite in a thirteen-runner field and took the lead in the closing stages to win by half a length from Hayil, a colt who went on to win the Group One Middle Park Stakes that October.[8] In June the colt was moved up in class for the Group Two Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot in which he was ridden for the first time by Olivier Peslier. Starting the 3/1 favourite he was among the leaders from the start but was beaten one and a half lengths by the Aidan O'Brien-trained Harbour Master.

Kieren Fallon became the third jockey to ride Desert Prince when the colt was sent to France to contest the Group One Prix Morny over 1200 metres at Deauville Racecourse on 24 August. Racing against some of the best French juveniles, he finished fifth behind Chargé d'Affaires, Xaar, Heeremandi and Khumba Mela. The colt returned to England for his final appearance of the season in the Group One Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse on 18 October. Ridden by Frankie Dettori he started a 14/1 outsider and finished fourth, proving no match for Xaar, who won impressively by seven lengths.[9]

Desert Prince began his second season in the European Free Handicap at Newmarket on 15 April in which he carried a weight of 131 pounds and started at odds of 7/1. Ridden by Peslier, he took the lead inside the final furlong and won by one and a quarter lengths from Trans Island.[10] Sylvain Guillot took the ride when the colt was sent to France for the Group One Poule d'Essai des Poulains at Longchamp Racecourse on 10 May. He raced in second place for much of the race, but was unable to quicken in the straight and finished third behind Victory Note and Muhtathir. Two weeks later Desert Prince was sent to Ireland to contest the Irish 2000 Guineas oer one mile at the Curragh. Ridden as in all his subsequent races by Peslier he started at 8/1 in a field of seven runners, with the O'Brien-trained Second Empire, the winner of the Grand Critérium being made the 4/5 favourite. After racing in second place behind the outsider Untold Story, Desert Prince took the lead two furlongs out and kept on well to win by three lengths from the Godolphin runner Fa-Eq.[11] Desert Prince ran at Royal Ascot for the second time when he ran in the St James's Palace Stakes and started 4/1 second favourite against seven other three-year-old colts including Victory Note, Fa-Eq and the Henry Cecil-trained Dr Fong. In a change of tactics, Desert Prince took the lead from the start and had many of his rivals struggling early in the straight, but was caught in the final strides and beaten a neck by Dr Fong after what The Independent described as "a stirring battle".[12]

After a break of more than two and a half months, Desert Prince returned in the Group One Prix du Moulin at Longchamp on 6 September in which he was matched against older horses for the first time. In a race run on very soft ground he started at odds of 4.1/1 in a field of seven runners which included Second Empire, Zalaiyka (winner of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches) and the Japanese trained Seeking the Pearl who had won the Prix Maurice de Gheest in August. Desert Prince raced in third place behind the Japanese colt before taking the lead 400 metres from the finish. He went clear in the closing stages to win by three lengths from the outsider Gold Away with second Empire two lengths further back in third.[13] Loder said after the race "I knew he'd come on something like 10lb since Ascot and it just remained for him to confirm my opinion on the racecourse. The colt had pleased me in his work and physically throughout the summer. It was always the intention to give Desert Prince a break after the St James's Palace and aim him at the Moulin. He goes on all ground and is a top-class colt. The plan now is to run him in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and then the Breeders' Cup Mile, before he retires to the Irish National Stud".[14] Peslier commented: "Desert Prince would have been more impressive on better ground. I gave him time to build up momentum and he gave me a big effort".[14]

Three weeks later, Desert Prince started the 100/30 favourite for the Group One Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. The race saw him pitted for the second time against Dr Fong, with the other runners including Second Empire, Cape Cross and the Sussex Stakes winner Among Men. Peslier tracked the leaders before ending the colt into the lead two furlong from the finish. He held off a challenge from Dr Fong to prevail by half a length with a gap of three and a half lengths back to Second Empire in third.[15] After the race, Loder said of the horse that "ever since he arrived in the yard he has had a presence or an aura around him. Last year I thought he was the best horse I have trained and he has come good".[16] On his final racecourse of the season he was sent to the United States to contest the Breeders' Cup Mile at Churchill Downs on 7 November. Loder explained that while the colt's victory at Ascot was "the icing on the cake", the Breeders' Cup would be "the cherry on the top".[17] He started 3/1 second favourite behind Favorite Trick, but after being hampered in the early stages he was never in contention and finished last of the fourteen runners behind Da Hoss.

In the International Classification, published in January 1999, Desert Prince was rated the best European three-year-old colt of 1998, one pound ahead of Dr Fong.[18]