Klairon was a representative of the Byerley Turk sire line,[1] unlike more than 95% of modern thoroughbreds, who descend directly from the Darley Arabian.
[4] Lorenzaccio was acquired by Charles St George, the chairman of Lloyd's of London[5] and sent into training with Noel Murless at his Warren Place in Newmarket, Suffolk.
In autumn he returned to Britain, where he ran twice at Doncaster Racecourse finishing second to Cheb's Lad in the Champagne Stakes and fourth behind Vaguely Noble in the Observer Gold Cup.
In September he ran in La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte, and finished second to Karabas, a horse who went on to win that year's Washington, D.C. International Stakes.
The favourite was the outstanding three-year-old colt Nijinsky, who had become the first Triple Crown winner for thirty-five years and beaten older horses in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
[6] In what was considered a huge upset, Lorenzaccio took the lead in the final quarter mile and stayed on strongly to hold off the challenge of Nijinsky to win by three-quarters of a length.
[3] In 1970, the independent Timeform organisation gave Lorenzaccio a peak rating of 130, eight pounds behind Nijinsky and three behind the top-rated older horse Balidar.
[12] It was after Lorenzaccio had left Europe that his son, Ahonoora, emerged as a leading sprinter, winning the William Hill Sprint Championship in 1979.