her being made odds-on favourite for the Guineas, and being blamed for the lack of potential runners as trainers sought alternative races for their fillies. Shortly before the race she suffered a bruised foot which caused her odds to drift from 2/5 to 10/11 in the betting as she missed a planned training gallop. Bosra Sham in fact had very shallow, fragile feet which caused her problems throughout her career. In the 1,000 Guineas she remained unbeaten, but was less impressive, having to be ridden hard to win by one and a half lengths from Matiya. After the race she received a "sweeping reception" which left Henry Cecil, her trainer visibly moved. Cecil then revealed that the injury had left the Bosra Sham's feet bruised and sore and that she had endured a "horrible time" in preparation. Her rider Pat Eddery explained that her injuries had hampered the filly's ability to gallop, saying that, "you haven't seen her at her best today". The foot injury recurred soon afterwards and Bosra Sham was unable to race for almost five months. Returning in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes she was matched against the 2,000 Guineas winner Mark of Esteem in a race which was expected to identify the best horse in Europe over one mile. Bosra Sham was sent into the lead in the straight, but was overtaken by Mark of Esteem and lost her unbeaten record by one and a quarter lengths. Mark of Esteem's defeat of Bosra Sham earned a Timeform rating of 137, making it one of the best performances ever recorded over one mile, but the quality of the race was somewhat overshadowed as it formed part of Frankie Dettori's achievement of winning all seven races on the day. Bosra Sham's final race of the year was the Champion Stakes at Newmarket. A significant feature of the race was that her main rival was expected to be the five-year-old Halling, who represented Godolphin Racing. Not only was Henry Cecil involved in a close race for the trainers' championship with Godolphin's Saeed Bin Suroor, but he had also been involved in an "acrimonious" dispute with the organisation's owner Sheikh Mohammed who had removed his horses, including Mark of Esteem, from Cecil's stable. Halling started favourite and was sent into the lead three furlongs from the finish, but Bosra Sham "surged" past him a furlong out and pulled away to