Bred by Josephine Abercrombie and foaled at her Versailles, Kentucky, farm, Elocutionist was sired by multiple stakes winner Gallant Romeo, a son of U.S.
Elocutionist was purchased at the July 1974 Fasig-Tipton yearling sale in Lexington, Kentucky by Gene Cashman, a Chicago native who established a large Thoroughbred racing stable.
At age three in 1976, Elocutionist began the year with a third and a second in his first two outings, then won three races in a row including the Forerunner Stakes at Keeneland and the April 3 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.
The colt ran third in the Kentucky Derby behind winner Bold Forbes, who had been the yearling Cashman and Adwell did not buy at the auction as a result of the coin toss.
However, Elocutionist came back to win the Preakness Stakes by three and a half lengths, beating runner-up Play The Red and Bold Forbes, who finished third.