A specialist stayer, owned and bred by the Aga Khan he was best known for his emphatic victory over a very strong international field in the 1934 Ascot Gold Cup.
After being beaten in his first three races, including a second place at Goodwood,[3] Felicitation recorded his first success in the Autumn Foal Plate at Newbury Racecourse.
After the race however, Felictation's connections lodged a protest against the winner for causing interference ("crossing") and Manitoba was disqualified by the racecourse stewards.
In the St Leger at Doncaster Racecourse he was no match for Hyperion, who led from the start and won easily, but he finished strongly to take second place, three lengths behind the winner.
Ridden by Gordon Richards, Felicitation took the lead from the start, dominated the race, and won "in a common canter"[15] by eight lengths from Thor with Hyperion in third.
[16] On his final appearance of the season he won the Jockey Club Cup over two and a quarter miles at Newmarket by ten lengths from Armour Bright[17] at odds of 1/4.
[4] Felicitation ended the year with earnings of £9,255 making him the third most financially successful horse of the season in Britain behind the three-year-old Windsor Lad and the two-year-old Bahram.
The Aga Khan reportedly felt that Felicitation had not shown his best form at Longchamp and planned to match him against Brantôme and Windsor Lad in the 1935 Ascot Gold Cup.
Te prospect of a showdown between Felicitation, Brantôme and Windsor Lad created great interest, with bookmakers publishing ante-post odds from the race as early as February.
[21] Felicitation began his fourth season by finishing third to Tai-Yang and Tiberius in the Chippenham Stakes over one and a half miles at Newmarket in early May.