Owned and bred by prominent horseman William Woodward Sr. at his Belair Stud in Bowie, Maryland, Granville was sired by U.S.
The following year, in the run-up to the 1936 Kentucky Derby, Granville finished a strong second to Teufel in the Wood Memorial Stakes.
In the Derby, won by Bold Venture, shortly after the start Granville threw jockey James Stout and as such finished last in the fourteen-horse field.
He was named American Horse of the Year in a poll of journalists conducted by Turf and Sport Digest magazine.
Sent to horse breeding duty at his owners' stud farm, he was less than successful as a sire, with his last issue foaled in 1949.