A chestnut Thoroughbred with a white star and two hind stockings, Aristides was bred by H. Price McGrath and foaled in 1872.

McGrath did not consider Aristides first rate, though his dam (Sarong) was by one of the United States' greatest sires, Lexington, whose bloodline went back to Glencoe and Hall of Famer Boston.

[1] Price McGrath was born to poverty in Jessamine County, Kentucky, and had gone west for the great California Gold Rush.

[citation needed] Both Aristides and Chesapeake were born and bred on the McGrathiana Farm in Fayette County, Kentucky, a short distance from Lexington.

Trained by future Hall of Famer Ansel Williamson, an African American, Aristides was ridden by Oliver Lewis, also African-American.

Aristides's jockey, Oliver Lewis, knowing he was not supposed to win, looked to owner McGrath, who waved him on.

The Louisville Courier-Journal wrote: "It is the gallant Aristides, heir to a mighty name, that strides with sweeping gallop toward victory...and the air trembles and vibrates again with the ringing cheers that followed."

He also took the Jerome Handicap, the Withers Stakes, the Breckinridge (beating Tom Ochiltree), and a match race over Ten Broeck.