Bosra Sham is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse, bred in the United States and trained in the United Kingdom. In a career which lasted from August 1995 until August 1997 she ran ten times and won seven races. Bosra Sham won several important races including the 1000 Guineas and the Champion Stakes in 1996, a year in which she was awarded the title of European Champion Three-Year Old Filly. She was one of the highest-rated fillies of modern times. Background Bosra Sham is a chestnut mare with a prominent white blaze and long white socks on her hind legs, bred in Kentucky by Gerald W Leigh. She was sired by the Mr. Prospector stallion Woodman out of the Riverman mare Korveya, making her a full sister to the European Champion Two-Year-Old Hector Protector, and a half-sister to the Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Shanghai. As a descendant of the broodmare Royal Statute, she was also closely related to The Derby winner Lammtarra. Her pedigree made her highly sought after, and, at the 1994 Tattersalls Houghton yearling auction, the Syrian businessman Wafic Saïd paid 530,000 guineas (the highest price in Europe that year) to secure her. The price was no guarantee of success: no top-priced yearling at the Houghton Sale had gone on to win a Classic since Sayajirao in 1947. Her name is derived from the ancient Syrian city of Bosra or Busra ash-Sham. She was sent into training with Henry Cecil at Newmarket. Racing career 1995: two-year-old season Bosra Sham won both of her races as a two-year-old in 1995. After "comfortably" winning a maiden race at Newbury in August, she was moved straight up to Group One class for the Fillies' Mile at Ascot. Despite her lack of experience, she was made odds-on favourite and won in "impressive" style, taking the lead a furlong from the finish and pulling clear to win by three and a half lengths. Her performance led to her being immediately named 4/1 favourite for the following year's 1,000 Guineas, with the Cheveley Park Stakes winner Blue Duster being seen as her only serious rival. 1996: three-year-old season In the winter and the early spring of 1996 Bosra Sham's form in training was the subject of encouraging reports and she attracted more support for the Guineas. She began her 1996 campaign with a six length win in the Fred Darling Stakes The performance resulted in