Cicero, a small chestnut colt, was bred by his owner Lord Rosebery,[2] the former Prime Minister, at his stud at The Durdans, near Epsom.

The second favourite was the French-trained Jardy, who was also undefeated, but reportedly suffering from a respiratory infection which had affected many of the horses in the stables of his owner, Edmond Blanc.

Unable to find a run along the rails, Maher switched Cicero to the outside and took the lead only to be faced by the "strenuous challenges" of Jardy and Signorino.

His main rival was expected to be Val d'Or, a stable companion of Jardy and the winner of the Poule d'Essai des Poulains.

Maher rode a vigorous finish, but Val d'Or, who was receiving three pounds from Cicero, pulled ahead in the closing stages to win by a half a length.

On his four-year-old debut on 20 April 1906, Cicero carried 140 lbs to beat Shilfa, his only opponent, in the one and a half mile Biennial Stakes at Newmarket, recording a time of 2:32.8.

[17] He was then aimed at the Ascot Gold Cup, for which he started second favourite, but after racing in second, he faded badly and finished unplaced behind Bachelor's Button and Pretty Polly.

During his racing career, there was some disagreement about Cicero's merits: some considered him a "really great horse", while others felt that he was merely "the best of a moderate lot" of English colts.