In 2000, Sinndar was clearly aimed at a staying campaign, bypassing the usual Guineas trials and opening his season with a run in the Listed Ballysax Stakes. The race is one in which horses carry extra weight according to races they have already won, making it, unofficially, a form of handicap. As a Group One winner, Sinndar carried seven pounds more than his three opponents, and he was only third in the betting. Johnny Murtagh attempted to make all the running on Sinndar, but the colt was caught inside the final furlong and beaten a head by the Dermot Weld-trained Grand Finale, with the pair finishing fifteen lengths clear of the other two runners. It proved to be Sinndar's only defeat.