He was sired by 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Pleasant Colony, out of the Rutledge Farm mare Snuggle.
Purchased for $100,000 at the 1991 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale, Colonial Affair was raced by Centennial Farms.
Racing Hall of Fame inductee Scotty Schulhofer Colonial Affair won the Belmont Stakes under jockey Julie Krone as the 13-1 longshot.
Colonial Affair was the favorite for the 1994 $3 million Breeders' Cup Classic until he broke a bone in his leg, thereby ending his racing career.
Colonial Affair died in his stall on April 23, 2013, at Haras El Paraiso in Capitan Sarmiento, Argentina.