Kris was a dark chestnut horse with white socks on his hind feet, bred in England by his owner Lord Howard de Walden.
He was sired by Sharpen Up and was the first foal of the broodmare Doubly Sure,[1] making him a full brother to the champion two-year-old Diesis, and Keen[2] and a half-brother to several other good winners including Presidium and Rudimentary (Sandown Mile).
He expended a great deal of energy struggling against his jockey's efforts and looked beaten when Hardgreen went to the front, but rallied strongly in the final strides to win by a neck, with a gap of eight lengths back to Saher in third.
[4] On his debut as a three-year-old Kris started 11/10[3] favourite for the Group Three Greenham Stakes at Newbury in which he was reopposed by Hardgreen, as well as the Guy Harwood-trained Young Generation.
In the race he was beaten half a length by the 20/1 outsider Tap On Wood and only just retained second in a close finish with Young Generation, who appeared somewhat unlucky in running.
Cecil decided to give Kris more experience before Royal Ascot and he was sent to Kempton where he won the Heron Stakes easily from Blue Refrain despite being hampered on the final turn.
He produced a strong finishing run to take the lead a furlong out and won by three-quarters of a length from Jellaby, with Foveros and Lightning Label close behind in third and fourth.
In the Cold Shields Windows Trophy over seven furlongs at Haydock Park he looked less than fully fit but won from three opponents and set a new course record.
On his final appearance he attempted to win a second successive Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October and started favourite ahead of the 1980 2000 Guineas winner Known Fact.
The independent Timeform organisation gave him a rating of 123, placing him eleven pounds behind Tromos and commented that he would probably improve but would need to "settle much better ... to have any hope of staying much beyond a mile".
[4] In the following year, Kris was rated the fifth-best three-year-old in Europe, level with the French miler Irish River, but behind Three Troikas, Troy, Le Marmot and Top Ville.
Timeform's annual Racehorses of 1979 described him as "most genuine, reliable and enthusiastic" and that he had dominated the mile division to a greater extent than any horse since Brigadier Gerard.