His sire, Marco, a male-line descendant of the Godolphin Arabian, was a versatile breeding stallion whose progeny included winners of the Grand National (Sprig) and Kentucky Derby (Omar Khayyam).

In a performance reminiscent of his run at Sandown, the colt was left ten lengths behind the other runners at the start, but recovered to catch Sunningdale in the closing stages and won by a head.

[10] On his first appearance as a three-year-old, Neil Gow, carrying a ten-pound weight penalty, was matched against Whisk Broom in the Craven Stakes over Newmarket's Rowley Mile course on 14 April.

[11] He appeared beaten when losing his place two furlongs from the finish but produced an "extraordinary" run to overtake his rivals and won by three lengths despite being eased down by Maher in the closing stages.

The two favourites drew clear of the rest in the final furlong and Neil Gow, under a vigorous ride from Maher, prevailed by a short head in a “superlative” driving finish,[13] with Whisk Broom two lengths back in third place.

[15] His chances were compromised when he “sprang a curb”[16] (became lame owing to a swollen hock)[17] in one of his final training gallops, but he was allowed to take part as Rosebery did not want to let down members of the public who had already wagered on the horse.

[18] At Epsom on 1 June he started second favourite in front of a crowd estimated at 250,000, many dressed in black as a mark of respect to the recently deceased King Edward VII.

[19] Neil Gow became agitated and gave trouble at the start and failed to reproduce his best form finishing fourth of the fifteen runners behind Lemberg, Greenback and Charles O'Malley.

[20] At Sandown on July Neil Gow faced Lemberg for the fourth and final time in a much anticipated contest for the Eclipse Stakes, then the most valuable race in England with a prize of £10,000.

[22] The contests between Neil Gow and Lemberg drew comparisons with the nineteenth-century rivalries, including those between The Flying Dutchman and Voltigeur (1850–1851) and between Bend Or and Robert the Devil (1880–1881).