Protection Racket was a "strong, rangy"[2] bay horse with no white markings bred in Kentucky by Edward A Seltzer & Alvin Wagner.
[3] His sire Graustark had a brief but promising racing career before becoming a very successful breeding stallion whose progeny included Prove Out, Key To The Mint, Avatar and Jim French.
[4] After finishing unplaced on his debut over seven furlongs Protection Racket started favourite for the Houghton Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse over the same distance and came home fifth of the fourteen runners behind Sunley Builds.
There was an immediate disagreement between the new owner and the trainer: Hindley believed that the horse's future lay over extreme distances (two miles plus) while Fradkoff wanted to race him over shorter trips.
After a break of six weeks he returned at York Racecourse in August for the Ebor Handicap in which he was ridden by Mark Birch and carried a weight of 113 pounds against older and more experienced opponents.
[6] In September Protection Racket bypassed the St Leger Stakes to avoid a clash with Shergar and instead took on older horses in the Doncaster Cup over two and a quarter miles at the same meeting.
[6] In their rankings for 1981 Timeform gave Protecto Racket a rating of 122, nine pounds behind their best stayer Ardross and described him as "a splendidly tough and genuine staying colt and a great credit to his trainer".