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 French 2000 Guineas winner Shanghai.
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.
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.
[8] 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.
[10] She began her 1996 campaign with a six length win in the Fred Darling Stakes[11] The performance resulted in 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.
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.
[23] She was sent to Royal Ascot for the Prince of Wales's Stakes (then a Group Two race) in which she produced her best form, taking the lead two furlongs out and pulling away to win by eight lengths from Alhaarth in "very impressive" style.
[26] Her rider Kieren Fallon was criticised after the filly was boxed in and unable to find a clear run in the closing stages,[27] and he was replaced by Pat Eddery for her next race on the instructions of her owner.
[33] Bosra Sham was named the best filly of her generation at three[34] and was the highest-rated horse in Europe and North America over a mile and a quarter in the 1996 International Classification.
[38] In 1999, Henry Cecil described her as "The best I've ever trained... and that includes the colts"[37] Retired at the end of 1997, Bosra Sham was bred to many leading stallions and produced several winners, but none of them top-class.