Balisada was a chestnut mare with a narrow white stripe[2] bred in England by her owner Anthony Oppenheimer's Hascombe and Valiant Stud.
She was made 4/7 favourite for a similar event at Newmarket Racecourse nineteen days later but started slowly and finished third of the thirteen runners behind the John Gosden-trained Georgette.
On 26 October, the filly was moved up in distance for a seven furlong maiden on heavy ground at Lingfield Park and recorded her first success, taking the lead approaching the last quarter mile and winning by two and a half lengths from Heartwood.
She started a 16/1 outsider (having been offered at odds of 40/1 on the morning of race) in a field of nine fillies which included Wannabe Grand (winner of the Cheveley Park Stakes and the 11/4 favourite), Valentine Waltz (Poule d'Essai des Pouliches), Hula Angel (Irish 1,000 Guineas), Golden Silca (Mill Reef Stakes), Hawriyah and the Godolphin runner Pescara.
She took the lead 100 yards from the finish and won by one and three quarter lengths from Golden Silca, with Wannabe Grand and Valentine Waltz dead-heating for third.
After a break of two months, the filly returned for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot Racecourse where she finished tailed-off last of the four runners behind Dubai Millennium.