all four of her races as a two-year-old. She made her first appearance on 16 July at Newmarket in the Chesterfield Stakes, for which she started 6/4 favourite. Although she had not grown as much as might have been expected from her yearling days, she was reported to be deceptively powerful, being described by one observer as "all wire and whipcord." Ridden by George Barrett, she led from the start and shook off he rivals "without an effort" to win by two lengths, in an impressive time of 1:04.2. The third placed finisher, a colt called Bonavista (or Bona Vista), went on to win the following year's 2000 Guineas. On 29 July, La Fleche was sent to Goodwood for the five furlong Lavant Stakes in which she met Priestess, another filly whose sale price (£4,000) had attracted comment. La Fleche tracked Priestess, who set a strong pace, before moving ahead in the final furlong to win "very cleverly" by a length. Two days later, she reappeared at the same course for the Molecomb Stakes and recorded another easy win, beating Adoration by one and a half lengths. At Doncaster in September she won the Champagne Stakes to take her earnings for the year to £3,415. La Fleche's stable companion, Orme, was regarded as the best of the year's two-year-old colts, and there was speculation as to which of the two was the better. It was also generally believed that La Fleche would have the Derby as her principal target for the following year. 1892: three-year-old season Spring 1892 began with a scare for La Fleche's owners as the filly slipped and injured her knees at her stable. Initial fears that her career could be over however, proved to be unfounded as the damage was superficial. Confidence in the filly grew steadily over the winter and early spring, and by late April she had supplanted Orme as Derby favourite. Her position at the head of the market was strengthened when Orme was poisoned– unsubstantiated rumours blamed the filly's supporters– and ruled out for the first half of the season. On 6 May 1892 La Fleche started 1/2 favourite in a field of seven for the 1000 Guineas. Her price might have been even shorter but for fears that she too could have been "got at". Ridden by George Barrett she raced in second place as Adoration set the pace before moving