Jacinth was a big, powerful, good-looking[1] bay mare with a white sock on her left hind leg[2] bred by the stud of the British bookmaker William Hill.
Jacinth's dam Jaffa, was a successful racehorse over long distances and a granddaughter of Daring Miss, whose other descendants included Humble Duty and the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner Danseuse du Soir.
[1] In October, Jacinth returned in Britain's most prestigious race for two-year-old fillies, the Cheveley Park Stakes over six furlongs at Newmarket.
[8] In June Jacinth returned for the Coronation Stakes (then a Group Two race) at Royal Ascot and won easily at odds of 15/8[5] from Silver Birch.
In the following month she was made 2/5[5] favourite for the Group Three Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket and won by three lengths, with Silver Birch again taking second place.
In the 1972 Free Handicap, a rating of the best two-year-olds to race in Britain, Jacinth was the top-rated juvenile of either sex, three pounds ahead of the leading colt Noble Decree.