Oasis Dream

Oasis Dream made his debut in a six furlong maiden race at Salisbury in August 2002. He started favourite but ran disappointingly, finishing a well beaten fifth of the eleven runners. Two weeks later in a similar event at Sandown he was the beaten favourite again, leading early but fading in the closing stages to finish second, beaten three and a half lengths by Rimrod.

Three weeks after his second defeat, Oasis Dream recorded his first win, "easily" beating four rivals in a maiden at Nottingham.[4]

In October, Oasis Dream was moved up to the highest level for the Group One Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket. The field included the winners of several important races including Elusive City (Prix Morny), Zafeen (Mill Reef Stakes) and Country Reel (Gimcrack Stakes), as well as four runners from the Aidan O'Brien stable. Jimmy Fortune tracked the leaders on Oasis Dream, before moving the colt into the lead a furlong out, where he ran on strongly to win by one and a half lengths from Tomahawk and Elusive City.[5] The winning time of 1:09.61 was a record for the race. After the race Gosden described him as being probably the fastest two-year-old in Europe and he was regarded as a serious contender for the 2000 Guineas.[6]

Oasis Dream's prospects of winning a Classic faded in the spring. The colt did not perform well at home, and Gosden decided not to force his progress,[7] and instead wait until summer for a campaign based on the top sprint races. He was ridden in all his races in 2003 by Richard Hughes.

He did not appear until Royal Ascot where he was made 6/1 favourite in a field of twenty for the five-furlong King's Stand Stakes. He ran prominently but was unable to catch the Australian horse Choisir and lost second place in the closing stages to Acclamation. Four days later, Choisir won the Golden Jubilee Stakes.

At Newmarket a month later Oasis Dream was matched against Choisir for a second time in the July Cup, this time over six furlongs. Oasis Dream tracked Choisir in the early stages before catching the Australian a furlong out and running on to win a "protracted battle"[8] by one and a half lengths.[9] In the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in August Oasis Dream confirmed his position as the best British sprinter. On this occasion he led from the start and went clear of the opposition in the last quarter-mile to win by two and a half lengths in "impressive" style.[10] Although he was eased up in the closing strides, his winning time was only four hundredths of a second outside the track record set by Dayjur. Gosden described him as the fastest horse he had trained and compared him to Abernant, while the Independent's correspondent called the contest "not a Group One race (but)...a homage."[11]

Oasis Dream was made odds-on favourite for the Sprint Cup at Haydock in September, despite the fact that he was racing on ground that was softer and slower than anything he had previously encountered. He took the lead two furlongs from the finish, but was soon under pressure and in the final furlong he was overtaken and beaten one and a quarter lengths by Somnus. On his final start he was sent to California for the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park after being a late withdrawal from the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp.[12] Despite not having run over a distance beyond six furlongs all season, he was entered in the Breeders' Cup Mile rather than the Sprint. Gosden had said after the Nunthorpe that Oasis Dream would be unsuited by the dirt surface in the Sprint and that the Mile was his likely end-of-season target. His price for the Mile drifted after he was given an unfavourable outside draw, making it likely that he would have to use much of his speed to reach the front in the early stages.[13] In the race he did show some early pace but made no real impression, finishing tenth of the thirteen runners behind Six Perfections.

c = colt, f = filly