Election was a successful racehorse that was bred by the Earl of Egremont and was bought by the Prince of Wales after his racing career to stand at Hampton Court.

Hunter was reportedly unsatisfied with his purchase and attempted to sell the "shabby little gray"[5] at a loss for 15 guineas, but he could not find a buyer for the colt.

Gustavus won the race by half a length from an unnamed colt by Soothsayer and seven other horses, winning 1,950 guineas.

The Duke of Grafton's colt Reginald (the winner of the 2,000 Guineas Stakes) initially took the lead and "made the running" with Gustavus initiating "some play" with Reginald at Tattenham Corner[10] and the two horses "worked together from end to end in the Derby, as if it was run a match.

Buckle's "nerve rather went" while Day "kept close to his girths,"[11] allowing Gustavus to overtake Reginald in the final stretch to win the race by half a length.

The depicted, dramatized scene occurred shortly before the race finish, with Gustavus in third place following closely behind the frontrunner Reginald.

Gustavus was unplaced in the St. Leger Stakes run on 17 September at Doncaster, which was won by the colt Jack Spiggot.

The third runner and the betting favorite in the race, a colt named Sandbeck, was disqualified after running into a post and falling.

[18] At Newmarket-Craven meeting in April, Gustavus won the 1600-guinea Claret Stakes, beating the Duke of Grafton's colt Carbonaro.

[21] At the First October Meeting at Newmarket on 30 September, Gustavus finished second to the Duke of Grafton's colt Guerilla in the Trial Stakes.

[32] Gustavus was not a successful sire, with the colt Forester (a July and Newmarket Stakes winner) and the filly Chantilly being his only progeny of note.