Bred and raced by Lady Bamford, she was named for the Sariska Tiger Reserve in the Alwar district of the Indian state of Rajasthan.

Made the betting favourite for The Oaks, under jockey Jamie Spencer, who had ridden her in all of her previous starts, Sariska outfought Midday down the stretch to win the Classic by a short head.

Sariska trained on as a four-year old and started her campaign with an easy victory over old rival Midday in the Group Two Middleton Stakes at York.

This was the first time Sariska had shown any negative temperament in public, although she had nearly killed her trainer Michael Bell a month previously when kicking him with both hooves in the back, narrowly missing his kidneys and sending him flying across the stable.

After the race, her trainer Michael Bell compared her to "a Ferrari with no keys" due to her appearing to be "in great form" but refusing to run.