He was sent as a weanling to the Keeneland November Sale where he was sold for $1,100,000 to the Irish bloodstock agent Dermot "Demi" O'Byrne, acting on behalf of Michael Tabor.

[6] In August there was an outbreak of coughing amongst the Ballydoyle horses, but Hold That Tiger was nevertheless made 11-10 favourite for the Group One Phoenix Stakes, only to finish last of the nine runners, showing clear signs of "respiratory distress".

At Longchamp on Arc day Hold That Tiger was part of a four-horse O'Brien entry in the Grand Critérium (since renamed the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère).

He started slowly and entered the straight last of the fourteen runners, but then moved to the outside and accelerated past the entire field to win by half a length from the previously undefeated Italian colt Le Vie Dei Colori, with the future Eclipse Award winner Intercontinental in third.

[9] Although Hold That Tiger, who by now was regarded as the best of O'Brien's many good two-year-old colts, was entered in the Racing Post Trophy, his trainer had more ambitious plans.

[20] He now operates as a "shuttle" stallion, standing at the Haras de la Haie Neuve in France[21] for the first part of the year, before transferring to the Swettenham Stud's base in Nagambie, Victoria for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season.