Oh So Sharp

Oh So Sharp made her racecourse debut in a six furlong maiden race at Nottingham Racecourse in August. Ridden by Paul Eddery as stable jockey Lester Piggott was injured,she started the 1/2 favourite and won easily, despite being given a very gentle introduction by her jockey.[5] In early September, Oh So Sharp was moved up in class and matched against colts in the Group Three Solario Stakes over seven furlongs at Sandown Park. Ridden on this occasion by the stable jockey Lester Piggott, who had been very keen to return from injury to ride her, she took the lead approaching the final furlong and drew clear to win by two lengths at odds of 6/4.[6] The form of the race was boosted when the runner-up, Young Runaway, won the Group Two Champagne Stakes at Doncaster Racecourse two weeks later.[6]

Oh So Sharp's last race of the year was the Hoover Fillies' Mile at Ascot Racecourse in which she started at odds of 6/5. The contest was then a Group Three race, but has subsequently been promoted to Group One.Piggott had the filly in second place before taking the lead at the start of straight and won easily by one and a half lengths from the Prix du Calvados winner Helen Street, who was carrying four pounds more than the winner. In the International Classification produced by the official handicappers of France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, Oh So Sharp was given a rating of 77, five pounds behind the year's highest-rated two-year-old filly Triptych.[5] Piggott reputedly believed her to be the best filly he had ridden since Petite Etoile 25 years before.

Oh So Sharp began her three-year-old season on 18 April in the seven furlong Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse in which she met Helen Street at level weights and was ridden for the first time by Cauthen as Lester Piggott had ceased to be Henry Cecil ‘s stable jockey due to the dispute between Piggott and Daniel Wildenstein who insisted on other jockeys riding his horses when Piggott did not ride All Along in the 1983 Arc. She won at odds of 8/13, beating Bella Colora by a length, with Helen Street two and a half lengths back in third.[7] Two weeks later, Oh So Sharp was one of seventeen fillies to contest the 1000 Guineas over Newmarket's Rowley Mile course. Racing on unusually firm ground, Oh So Sharp was not among the early leaders and appeared to be struggling in the final quarter mile when the race seemed to lie between Bella Colora and Al Bahathri. In the closing stages however Cauthen produced the favourite with a powerful late run and she caught the leaders in the last stride to win a three-way photo finish by two short heads from Al Bahathri and Bella Colora. The runner-up, owned by Sheikh Mohammed's older brother Hamdan Al-Maktoum went on to win the Irish 1000 Guineas and the Coronation Stakes while Bella Colora won the Prix de l'Opéra in autumn. Oh So Sharp's win gave Sheikh Mohammed a first win in a British Classic and her winning time of 1:36.85 broke the race record which had stood since 1950.[2]

On 8 June, Oh So Sharp was moved up in distance for the Oaks (known for sponsorship reasons as the Gold Seal Oaks) at Epsom Downs Racecourse. In this race, which was run on soft ground, she was matched against Triptych who had run poorly in the 1000 Guineas but had then defeated a field of colts in the Irish 2000 Guineas. Cauthen settled the 6/4 favourite behind the leaders and tracked across to the stands side (furthest away from the inside rail) to take advantage of a strip of better ground. Oh So Sharp overtook Triptych two furlongs from the finish and quickly went clear, increasing her advantage throughout the closing stages to win by six lengths.[8] Her win completed a notable double for Cecil and Cauthen, who had won The Derby with Slip Anchor over the same course and distance three days earlier. Cecil said he would "do his damnedest" to keep the pair apart in future races.[9] Timeform rated her performance as the fourth-best seen in the Oaks up to that time, behind those of Petite Etoile, Noblesse, and Dunfermline.[2]

Now unbeaten in six races, Oh So Sharp ran against older horses for the first time in Britain's most prestigious weight-for-age race, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on 27 July. She started 4/5 favourites in a field of twelve, with her main rivals in the betting being Rainbow Quest, Strawberry Road, Petoski, and the Irish Derby winner Law Society. Oh So Sharp took the lead early in the straight and got the better of a prolonged struggle with the four-year-old Rainbow Quest but was caught in the closing stages and beaten a neck by Petoski.[10] Oh So Sharp was brought back in distance to contest the Benson & Hedges Gold Cup over ten and a half furlongs at York on 20 August. Triptych was again among her opponents, along with the leading four-year-olds Commanche Run and Palace Music, but Oh So Sharp was sent off the 2/5 favourite. Piggott set an unexpectedly slow pace on Commanche Run before accelerating early in the straight catching Cauthen unawares.Oh So Sharp chased the leader throughout the closing stages but never drew level and finished second, beaten three quarters of a length.[2]

Oh So Sharp ended her racing career in the St Leger on the 14 September when she was opposed by five colts in the 209th running of the St Leger over fourteen and a half furlongs. As she had already won the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks she was attempting to complete the fillies' version of the Triple Crown a feat which had last been achieved by Meld in 1955.[11] She started the 8/11 favourite with her closest rival in the betting being her stable companion Lanfranco, winner of the William Hill Futurity and the King Edward VII Stakes. Oh So Sharp moved past Lanfranco in the straight but was unable to draw away from the colt and quickly came under renewed pressure from her stable companion and from the outsider Phardante. Oh So Sharp hung to the right in the closing stages before winning by three-quarters of a length and a head from Phardante and Lanfranco. The racecourse stewards called an inquiry into possible interference caused by the winner but the result was allowed to stand.[12] Cecil admitted that the filly's form had been declining and said that "another week and it might have been too late".[2]