He won the European Free Handicap in April before winning three Group One races in three countries: the Irish 2,000 Guineas in Ireland, the Prix du Moulin in France and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in the United Kingdom.
Desert Prince was a bay horse with white socks on his hind feet[2] bred in Ireland by Tarworth Bloodstock, a breeding company owned by the Jersey-based businessman Peter Pritchard.
[8] In June the colt was moved up in class for the Group Two Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot in which he was ridden for the first time by Olivier Peslier.
Kieren Fallon became the third jockey to ride Desert Prince when the colt was sent to France to contest the Group One Prix Morny over 1200 metres at Deauville Racecourse on 24 August.
[9] Desert Prince began his second season in the European Free Handicap at Newmarket on 15 April in which he carried a weight of 131 pounds and started at odds of 7/1.
Ridden as in all his subsequent races by Peslier he started at 8/1 in a field of seven runners, with the O'Brien-trained Second Empire, the winner of the Grand Critérium being made the 4/5 favourite.
After racing in second place behind the outsider Untold Story, Desert Prince took the lead two furlongs out and kept on well to win by three lengths from the Godolphin runner Fa-Eq.
In a change of tactics, Desert Prince took the lead from the start and had many of his rivals struggling early in the straight, but was caught in the final strides and beaten a neck by Dr Fong after what The Independent described as "a stirring battle".
[12] After a break of more than two and a half months, Desert Prince returned in the Group One Prix du Moulin at Longchamp on 6 September in which he was matched against older horses for the first time.
In a race run on very soft ground he started at odds of 4.1/1 in a field of seven runners which included Second Empire, Zalaiyka (winner of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches) and the Japanese trained Seeking the Pearl who had won the Prix Maurice de Gheest in August.
The race saw him pitted for the second time against Dr Fong, with the other runners including Second Empire, Cape Cross and the Sussex Stakes winner Among Men.
In the International Classification, published in January 1999, Desert Prince was rated the best European three-year-old colt of 1998, one pound ahead of Dr Fong.