Bellypha was the third, and best foal of his dam Belga, a moderate racehorse, but a descendant of the broodmare Malcolmia, making her a distant relative of the Coronation Cup winner Oncidium.
[5] Bellypha was regarded as a potentially top-class middle distance performer and made his first appearance as a three-year-old in the Prix de Guiche over 1950m on soft ground at Longchamp on 16 April.
[6] Despite doubts about his stamina, Bellypha was given another chance to prove himself over middle distances on 3 June when he started the 8/1 third favourite for the Group One Prix du Jockey Club over 2400m at Chantilly.
Freddy Head moved the colt into a challenging position in the straight but could make no further progress, finishing fourth behind Top Ville, Le Marmot and Sharpman.
[6] While Top Ville and Le Marmot appeared the best of their generation in France over middle distances, the leading miler was Irish River, who had won eight of his ten races including five at Group One level.
Bellypha met Irish River for the first and only time in the weight-for-age Prix Jacques Le Marois on 12 August at Deauville Racecourse.
In the inaugural International Classification, a collaboration between the official handicappers of France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, Bellypha was rated the seventh-best two-year-old colt in Europe, seven pounds behind Tromos.