Ridden by Ted Durcan, Somnus tracked the leaders before producing a strong late run to take the lead inside the final furlong and win by half a length from the July Stakes winner Mister Links.
[13] On his final start of the year, Somnus was sent to Redcar in October for the eighteen-runner Betabet Two-Year-Old Trophy and was allowed to take his chance in the race despite the unsuitably firm ground.
He raced prominently before taking the lead two furlongs out and stayed on "gamely" under pressure to win by a head from Tout Seul, with Monsieur Bond third.
[14] The win made Somnus one of the year's biggest money earners and after the race, Lady Legard said that she felt "so lucky to have such a good horse and such a tough one.
He was then dropped in class for a minor stakes race at Haydock in July, and took the lead in the final furlong before pulling clear to win by two and a half lengths.
[18] In August Somnus started odds-on favourite for the Shergar Cup Sprint, part on an international jockeys' tournament, but for the third time that season, he ran below form at Ascot and finished fourth.
This was a good performance as he was a three-year-old attempting to give weight to older horses,[19] and had to come from an almost impossible position after being unable to find a clear run in the closing stages.
He was also encouraged by the opinions of his father, the veteran trainer Peter Easterby who had visited his son's yard three days before the race and observed "by heck, that Somnus can gallop!"
[21] Somnus "relished" the soft ground and tracked the leaders before being switched to the left by Richard Hughes and moving up to challenge Oasis Dream in the last quarter mile.
Several challengers emerged, but Somnus ran on "tenaciously"[24] under pressure to win by a neck from the multiple Group One winner Whipper, with Frizante unplaced.
Somnus raced prominently before taking the lead a furlong out and ran on strongly but was caught on the line by the filly Tante Rose[28] who won "by the width of her whiskers.
Like Continent another Yorkshire-trained gelding who became Champion Sprinter, he became difficult to place in his later career, being no longer quite good enough for the top weight-for-age races, but too highly rated to be competitive in most handicaps.
Lady Legard paid tribute to her gelding saying, "He's taken us around the world, competed and triumphed at the very top level, and provided us with such fun and so many fond memories.