Fleeting Spirit, a "delightful little"[1] bay mare with a small white star, was bred at Kilcullen, County Kildare, Ireland by Bernadette Hayden.
He has gone on to be a "leading" sire, getting the winners of more than five hundred races including Moonlight Cloud, Lawman (Prix du Jockey Club), Hooray (Cheveley Park Stakes) and Vale of York (Breeders' Cup Juvenile).
[3] Fleeting Spirit was sent as a yearling to the Goffs sales in September 2006 where she was bought for €35,000 by Con Marnane, a bloodstock agent who specialised in "pinhooking"– buying horses at auction and then selling them on at a profit.
[4] Seven months later, Marnane's investment paid off at the Tattersalls "breeze-up" sale where the filly was sold for 90,000gns to Anthony Stroud[5] acting on behalf of "The Searchers", a five-member syndicate which included Andy Stewart and Paul Roy.
[11] The result confirmed her status as "one of the fastest juveniles in training"[12] Among the unplaced horses was the colt Dark Angel, who won the Group One Middle Park Stakes on his next start.
She again started slowly before producing a sustained late run to finish third, beaten half a length and a neck by Equiano and Takeover Target.
At the start of the race, Fleeting Spirit's stall failed to open, leaving the filly banging her head against the gate[18] as the other runners set off.
[19] Racing on soft ground for the first time, Fleeting Spirit looked outpaced at one stage, but finished strongly to be fifth of the seventeen runners, beaten just over three lengths by Marchand d'Or.
On her final start of the year she finished fourth, beaten just over two lengths in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park.
Apart from Fleeting Spirit, the British runners included Equiano, Paco Boy, King's Apostle (Prix Maurice de Gheest) and Art Connoisseur (Golden Jubilee Stakes).
"[22] Racing on soft ground in the Haydock Sprint Cup in September, Fleeting Spirit started the 100/30 favourite and took the lead a furlong out but was caught in the closing stages and beaten half a length by Regal Parade.
A month later in the Prix de l'Abbaye she made her customary slow start and before finishing strongly, failing by a neck to catch Total Gallery.