Dancing Brave
At Epsom in June he started at odds of 11/2 for the Derby in a field of fifteen runners. The favourite for the race was the unbeaten Dancing Brave, the impressive winner of the 2000 Guineas. After tracking the leaders in a slowly run race, Swinburn sent Shahrastani into the lead in the straight and opened up a clear lead. In the closing stages he held of the late challenge of Dancing Brave to win by half a length. Three weeks after his Epsom win, Shahrastani was sent to the Curragh Racecourse for the Irish Derby. He started the even money favourite against a field which included the Epsom third Mashkour and Dancing Brave's stable companion Bakharoff, the leading European two-year-old of 1985. Shahrastani took the lead two furlongs from the finish and pulled away from his opponents to win very easily by eight lengths. In July, Shahrastani started favourite for his rematch with Dancing Brave in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. He was never able to reach the lead and finished fourth behind Dancing Brave, Shardari and Triptych.