Humble Duty was a grey filly bred at the Owenstown Stud at Maynooth in County Kildare, Ireland by Frank Tuthill.
Although the winning margin was only a length and the opposition moderate,[2] Humble Duty was immediately moved up in class to contest the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.
[4] In the Free Handicap, a ranking of the best two-year-olds to have run in Britain in 1969, Humble Duty was the top-rated filly, seven pounds below the leading colt Nijinsky.
Ridden by Piggott Humble Duty took the lead inside the final quarter mile and drew well clear of her opponents.
[7] Humble Duty was sent to Epsom in June, but bypassed the one and a half mile Oaks, running instead in the Ebbisham Stakes over 8+1⁄2 furlongs and winning by four lengths.
Ridden by Duncan Keith, Humble Duty won decisively[8] by three-quarters of a length from Gold Rod, Joshua and Welsh Pageant.
[2] In her final race, Humble Duty failed to reproduce her best form, finishing fourth behind Welsh Pageant, Gold Rod and Prince de Galles in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in September.