At the time of his retirement he held the record for prize money won by a European-trained horse,[1] although the precise total of his earnings was difficult to determine because of the number of different currencies involved.
[2] Snurge was a chestnut horse with a narrow white blaze bred at the Kilcarn Stud near Navan in County Meath,[3] Ireland.
Before his racing career began he entered the ownership of the British businessman Martyn Arbib, who named the colt after a nickname he received while in school.
[4] Snurge was sired by the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Ela-Mana-Mou out of the French-bred mare Finlandia.
[5] Snurge made his first appearance in the Haynes, Hanson and Clark Conditions Stakes over one mile at Newbury Racecourse on 22 September and finished third of the nine runners behind Tanfith.
He started the 22/1 outsider of the five horse field, which was headed by the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Belmez.
[10] Snurge began his four-year-old season by winning the Listed Aston Park Stakes at Newbury and was then sent to Italy where he won the Group One Gran Premio di Milano.
He then ran second in four successive races, finishing runner-up in the Grosser Preis von Berlin, the Aral-Pokal, the Grand Prix de Deauville[13] and the Irish St. Leger.
[2] His only success came in August when he defeated Petit Loup by a short head to win the Grand Prix de Deauville for a second time.