[2] In the early 1930s, Bob Smith, a trainer with a history of spotting talent, had been hired by heiress Isabel Dodge Sloane to stock her newly formed Brookmeade Stable.
In July in Chicago, Cavalcade recorded an upset win in the Hyde Stakes, beating the Whitney colt Singing Wood by a neck at odds of 90/1.
Cavalcade's 1934 campaign was marked by his dominance of the future Hall of Fame colt Discovery whom he first defeated in the Chesapeake Stakes at Havre de Grace.
[8] After Time Clock's poor showing, his handlers replaced him in the Preakness Stakes with the third stablemate, High Quest, who had won April's Wood Memorial.
Cavalcade skipped the longer Belmont Stakes (in which High Quest was defeated by Peace Chance) running instead in the American Derby in Chicago which he won by two lengths and six from Discovery and Singing Wood, conceding weight to both, in a course record time of 2:04.0.
At age four, he missed his early season target when he was withdrawn from the Santa Anita Handicap and did not appear until late May when he finished second to the five-year-old Head Play at Belmont.
After an absence of fifteen months, Cavalcade returned to action in September 1936 in an allowance race at Narragansett Park where he finished sixth of the seven runners.
[14] Cavalcade ended the 1934 racing season with six wins and a second in his seven starts and as the highest money earner was recognised as the Champion 3-Year-old Colt and Horse of the Year[15] although there was no formal award.