Bred and raced by Harry Payne Whitney, Royal Tourist's sire was the unraced British import, Sandringham, a son of the outstanding runner and nine-time Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland, St. Simon.
[1] Racing at age two under trainer John Rogers, on September 10, 1907 Royal Tourist earned his first win in the Autumn Stakes at Sheepshead Bay Race Track with a stakes record time of 1:11 flat for six furlongs.
Triple Crown era, Royal Tourist was not entered in the Kentucky Derby but on June 2, 1908, under jockey Eddie Dugan, he won what is now the second leg of the Triple Crown series, the Preakness Stakes,[3] contested at the time at a distance of 11/16 miles at Gravesend Race Track.
Harry Whitney sold Royal Tourist in the early fall of 1908 to Chicagoan Charles R. Ellison.
The owner of a number of successful horses, Ellison had won the 1903 Kentucky Derby with Judge Himes and finished second in 1906 with the very good filly, Lady Navarre.