In training, the colt was temperamental and excitable: Boyd-Rochfort, however, reportedly welcomed these attributes as he believed that the best of Hyperion's offspring tended to be difficult and high-spirited characters.
[5] In the week of his owner's coronation Aureole started at odds of 9/1 for the Derby,[6] with Pinza and Premonition being made 5/1 joint-favourites in a field of twenty-seven runners.
In late July at Ascot he was again matched against Pinza in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, a race named after his owner's parents.
[4] In the St Leger at Doncaster in September, Aureole was made 6/4 favourite ahead of the Grand Prix de Paris winner Northern Light.
[9] He ended the season with a win in the Cumberland Lodge Stakes at Ascot, where he was ridden by Eph Smith, as Carr was unable to make the weight.
[10] At the Epsom Derby meeting, Aureole recorded his most important win up to that time as he won the Coronation Cup by five lengths from Chatsworth, with Nearula in third.
Aureole returned to Ascot in July for the fourth running of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes for which he was made 9/2 favourite against sixteen opponents.
[12] In the race he started slowly but recovered well, took the lead entering the straight, and won by three-quarters of a length from Vamos, with the 2000 Guineas winner Darius in third.
After the win, described as "one of the most popular victories in British turf history" the Queen was heard to remark "wasn't it a wonderful performance, I hope all Sandringham are on it".