After the race, Porter felt that the colt would have little chance in the Derby, and accepted an offer of £6,000 for him from Sir James Miller, an officer in the 14th King's Hussars.

[4] The sale contract however, contained a clause which stated that if Sainfoin won the Derby, his previous owners would receive half the prize money.

In the straight it became apparent that Surefoot was beaten and Sainfoin gained the advantage over Orwell and then held off the late challenge of Le Nord to win by three quarters of a length.

[7] Sainfoin did not win any races after the Derby at age four, securing a third place in the Imperial Plate and an unplaced finish at the 1891 City and Suburban Handicap.

His name appears in the pedigrees of most top class modern thoroughbreds owing to his daughter, Bromus, who produced the influential stallion Phalaris.