Mullion, who owned the Ardenode Stud in partnership with her husband Jim,[2] sent the colt to Ireland to be trained at the Curragh, County Kildare, by Paddy Prendergast, a trainer noted for his handling of precocious two-year-olds.
[3] His sire Princely Gift was a leading sprinter who broke the track record at Doncaster Racecourse when carrying 130 pounds in the 1955 Portland Handicap.
Floribunda's dam Astrentia also produced his full sister Kew, the great-grand-dam of the Prix de Diane winner Sil Sila.
Floribunda returned to sprinting at Royal Ascot in June and showed better form, without looking likely to win, when finishing second to Silver Tor in the King's Stand Stakes.
Despite having sustained three consecutive defeats he was made 4/6 favourite[5] and won decisively from the filly Cynara with the previous season's leading sprinter Bleep-Bleep in third place.
[10] In their book A Century of Champions, based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Floribunda the best British or Irish-trained horse of his generation.