Acamas was a strong, deep-bodied bay horse with a white coronet on his left hind foot[2] bred in the United Kingdom by Marcel Boussac.
Acamas won over 1100 metres on his debut and was then moved up sharply in class for the Group One Prix Robert Papin over the same distance at Évry Racecourse on 1 August.
He started at odds of 4.6/1 against a field which included Nishapour, Rusticaro and Pyjama Hunt, who had filled the first three places in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches as well as the previously undefeated Gay Mecene.
Restrained at the back of the field until the turn into the straight, Acamas made rapid progress on the inside rail before taking the lead in the closing stages and winning by a length from Pyjama Hunt.
Racing towards the rear of the twenty-runner field, Acamas appeared to have lost any chance of winning when he was badly hampered and carried wide on the final turn, losing at least fifteen lengths in the process.
[5] In the following month, Acamas was matched against older horses for the first time when he was sent to England to contest the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes over one and a half miles at Ascot Racecourse.
Starting favourite, he produced a strong run on the outside in the straight, but after veering to the left and then to the right, he was beaten one and a half lengths by the locally trained Ile de Bourbon.