Dara Monarch was a "neat, attractive"[2] bay horse with no white markings bred in England by Neville Bycroft.
The following month, Dara Monarch placed third in the Railway Stakes at the Curragh Racecourse, finishing strongly behind the winners Anfield and Day Is Done.
On his final appearance of the year, he was stepped up in distance for the Ashford Castle Stakes over one mile in September but ran poorly and finished last of the eleven runners behind Anfield.
[3] Dara Monarch began his second campaign in the McCairns Trial Stakes over seven furlongs at Phoenix Park Racecourse and won by a length from Senior Citizen.
[2] In June, Dara Monarch ran for the second time in England when he contested the St James's Palace Stakes (then a Group Two race) at Royal Ascot.
Dara Monarch was the 7/2 second choice, with the other seven runners including his old rivals Wind and Wuthering, Tender King, Anfield, Red Sunset and Achieved.
However, Dara Monarch, who had been held back by Kinane earlier in the race, came from the outside to take the lead a furlong and a half from the finish.
The colt contacted a viral infection and was off the course for two and a half months returning in the Waterford Crystal Mile at Goodwood Racecourse when he finished last of the eight runners behind Sandhurst Prince.
In the official International Classification, he was given a rating of 83, making him the ninth best three-year-old colt in Europe, eleven pounds inferior to the top-rated Golden Fleece.