Macaroni was part of a lot of six yearlings bought for £700 by the Liverpool banker Richard Naylor, who had recently started his own stud at Hooton Park on the Wirral Peninsula.

Naylor sent the young horses to be trained by James "Jem" Godding at his Palace House stable at Newmarket, Suffolk.

At the time, Newmarket was falling out of favour as a base for preparing horses for the Classics, and many leading owners and trainers had shifted their operations to centres in Berkshire and Sussex.

He ran only once, in autumn at Newmarket and gave little grounds for optimism as he was beaten three-quarters of a length by Automaton,[4] his only opponent in a two horse race.

The defeat of the French horse, who finished unplaced, and the popularity of Macaroni's owner, led to his win being warmly received by the Newmarket crowd.

A furlong from the finish, Lord Clifden went into a clear lead and looked the likely winner, but Macaroni produced a strong late run to catch the favourite in the last strides and win by a head.

He took the lead entering the straight and held off the sustained challenge of The Oaks winner Queen Bertha to win by one and a half lengths.