He was trained throughout his career by the veteran Captain (later Sir) Cecil Boyd-Rochfort at his Freemason Lodge Stable at Newmarket, Suffolk.
Alcide, who ran for the same owner and trainer as Parthia, had been the ante-post favourite for the 1958 Derby but was withdrawn from the race after being “got at” (deliberately injured) in his stable.
He finished sixth on his debut in a race at Hurst Park, but then showed considerable improvement to run third in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.
[5] In the Derby he started at odds of 10/1 in a field of twenty on an unusually hot day in front of a crowd which included the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
[6] Shantung was considered an unlucky loser: he had been virtually pulled-up by his jockey who feared he was injured, and finished strongly after being tailed-off in last place entering the straight.
He won the Jockey Club Cup (then run over one and a half miles) at Newmarket and the Paradise Stakes over fourteen furlongs at Hurst Park.
[9] On his final start he ran unplaced behind Aggressor and Petite Etoile in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.