Dunbeath was a bay horse with a narrow white blaze bred in Kentucky by Eaton Farms Inc & Red Bull Stable.
Dunbeath's dam Priceless Fame won two minor races before becoming a successful broodmare, also producing the Del Mar Futurity winner Saratoga Six.
Later that month he opened his winning account in the Foxhall Maiden Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse over the same distance, beating Morcon easily by two lengths.
After settling at the rear of the field, he moved forward in the straight, took the lead inside the last quarter mile and won by one and a half lengths from Lyphard's Special with The Noble Player in third place.
[5] Piggott restrained the colt at the back of the field as Muscatite and the outsider Shackle Pin set the pace before making rapid progress in the straight.
When he contested the Dante Stakes over ten and a half furlongs on soft ground at York Racecourse in May he was made the 1/2 favourite although his appearance was less impressive than usual as he sweated heavily in the pre-race paddock.
After moving up to challenge the leaders early in the straight he began to struggle and faded to finish third behind Hot Touch and Guns of Navarone, beaten more than eleven lengths by the winner.
His only run in a Graded stakes race came in the San Bernardino Handicap at Santa Anita Park in April when he finished fifth behind Journey At Sea.
[8] In the official International Classification for 1982, Dunbeath was rated the fifth-best two-year-old in Europe behind Diesis, Saint Cyrien, Danzatore and Gorytus.