1996: two-year-old season Fly to the Stars began his racing career in a
maiden race over six
furlongs at
Newbury Racecourse on 24 October in which he was ridden by
Kevin Darley, Starting at odds of
14/1 he finished third of the twenty-three runners behind the
Barry Hills trained Za-Im. On 5 November he started favourite for a maiden over seven furlongs at
Redcar Racecourse but was beaten into second place by Tayseer.
1997: three-year-old season On his first run of 1997 Fly to the Stars was ridden by Jason Weaver and started 5/6 favourite for an eight-runner maiden over one mile at
Doncaster Racecourse on 20 March and recorded his first win, drawing away from his opponents in the final furlong to win by seven
lengths. The colt was then stepped up in class and sent to Ireland for the
2000 Guineas Trial Stakes at
Leopardstown Racecourse for which he started favourite but was beaten a short head by the
Jim Bolger-trained Lil's Boy. Despite his defeat he was then moved up to
Group One class for the
Irish 2000 Guineas at the
Curragh in May. He led the field into the straight but was outpaced in the closing stages and finished fifth of the six runners behind
Desert King. Fly to the Stars was then dropped in class and stepped up in distance for a ten furlong
handicap race at
Epsom Racecourse and finished fourth to Jaunty Jack under top weight of 133 pounds. On 17 June the colt was one of twenty-eight three-year-olds to contest the Britannia Handicap over one mile at
Royal Ascot. Ridden as on his previous appearance by
Olivier Peslier he carried 129 pounds and started at odds of 20/1. After racing behind the leaders he began to make progress in the last quarter mile, took the lead a furlong out and "ran on well" to win by one and a half lengths from the
Michael Stoute-trained
gelding Komi. He was then matched against older handicappers at
Sandown Park Racecourse on 16 July and ran poorly, finishing sixteenth of the eighteen runners behind the four-year-old gelding Hawksley Hill. Fifteen days after his disappointing effort at Sandown, Fly to the Stars carried 132 pounds and started at odds of 12/1 for the valuable Schweppes Golden Mile Handicap at
Goodwood Racecourse. Peslier positioned Fly to the Stars from the start before sending the colt into the lead inside the final furlong to win by one and a quarter lengths from Crumpton Hill and eighteen others. In August Fly to the Stars was sent to France and moved back up to Listed level for the Prix de Tourgeville at
Deauville Racecourse and finished second to the
Criquette Head-Maarek-trained Marathon. The colt ended his season with a trip to Turkey for a run in the
Topkapi Trophy over 1600 metres at
Veliefendi Race Course on 13 September. After taking the lead 500 metres out he was overtaken in the straight and finished third behind his fellow British challengers Sandstone and Ramooz. At the end of the season he was bought privately by
Sheikh Mohammed's
Godolphin organisation and was moved to the training stable of
Saeed bin Suroor.
1998: four-year-old season Having spent the winter with the Godolphin stable in Dubai, Fly to the Stars began his third season with three races at
Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. Racing on dirt, he finished second to Wathik in the
first round of the Al Maktoum Challenge in January and third behind the same horse in the
third round of the series in February. On
Dubai World Cup Night on 28 March he contested the
Dubai Duty Free over 2000 metres and finished third behind
Annus Mirabilis and
Intikhab. In June, on his return to European turf racing Fly to the Stars was assigned a weight of 137 pounds for the
Royal Hunt Cup and started the 6/1 favourite in a thirty-two-runner field. Ridden by
Frankie Dettori, he finished one and a half lengths second to Refuse To Lose, a horse to whom he was conceding twenty-eight pounds.
Daragh O'Donohoe took over the ride when Fly to the Stars ran in the Group Three
Prix Messidor at Deauville on 12 July and started second favourite behind the
André Fabre-trained five-year-old Alamo Bay. After leading from the start he was headed by
Jim And Tonic 200 metres out but rallied in the closing stages to regain the advantage and win by a head. After a break of three months the colt returned in the Group Two
Prix du Rond Point over 1600 metres at
Longchamp Racecourse in October when he was reunited with Dettori and started second favourite behind Gold Away (runner-up in the
Prix Jean Prat and
Prix du Moulin). The other runners included
Silic,
Decorated Hero (winner of the race in 1997) and Ramooz. Fly to the Stars led from the start, accelerated clear of the field in the last 400 metres and won by two and a half lengths from Gold Away. On his final appearance of the season, the colt was sent to the United States for the
Breeders' Cup Mile at
Churchill Downs on 7 November and ran fifth behind
Da Hoss, with
Favorite Trick,
Cape Cross,
Among Men and
Desert Prince finishing further back in the field.
1999: five-year-old season Fly to the Stars began his 1999 campaign in the Group One Lockinge Stakes over one mile at Newbury on 15 May. With
Richard Hills partnering the Godolphin stable's first string Intikhab (the 4/7 favourite) the ride on Fly to the Stars (9/1) went to the Irish jockey
Willie Supple. The other four runners were Jim And Tonic, Almushtarak (
Sandown Mile),
Tomba (
Prix de la Forêt) and Duck Row (third in the
St James's Palace Stakes). Racing on
soft ground Fly to the Stars took the lead from the start and stayed on "gamely" under pressure in the closing stages to win by a lengths and a half from Jim And Tonic with Almushtarak a neck away in third place. In two subsequent starts that year, Fly to the Stars failed to reproduce his Newbury form when tried on firmer ground. At Royal Ascot in June he started second favourite for the
Queen Anne Stakes but faded badly in the last quarter mile and finished seventh of the eight runners, more than twenty lengths behind the winner Cape Cross. At Longchamp in September he set the pace for his stablemate
Aljabr in the
Prix du Moulin before finishing eighth behind
Sendawar.
2000: six-year-old season Fly to the Stars remained in training as a six-year-old but failed to win or place in three races. He began his season by running for the second time in the Dubai Duty Free and set the pace before finishing seventh to his stablemate Rhythm Band. On his European seasonal debut he contested the Group Three
Diomed Stakes at
Epsom Racecourse but after losing a shoe early in the race he finished last of the five runners behind Trans Island. On his final appearance he acted as a pacemaker for
Diktat in the Prix du Moulin and led for most of the way before finishing fourth of the eight runners behind
Indian Lodge. ==Stud record==