He was the full brother of the 1826 Derby winner Lap-dog, being sired by Whalebone out of Egremont's unnamed Canopus mare.

His final start of the year came in November when he ran in the Nursery Stakes, a handicap race for two-year-olds over one mile.

[5] The American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine commented that a less patient trainer than Joe Rogers would not have persevered with what they described as a "little, scratching thing.

[7] He carried 94 pounds in a one-mile handicap over the Abingdon Mile course at Newmarket and won easily[1] from thirteen opponents.

Confidence in Spaniel faded to such an extent that both his trainer Joe Rogers and his jockey Will Wheatley attempted to cancel the bets they had placed on him.

Despite the puzzling fact that his owner Lord Jersey "declared to win" with his other runner, an outsider named Blunder, Riddlesworth was the subject of extremely heavy wagering and started at odds of 4/6, making him one of the shortest priced favourites in the history of the race up to that time.

The gallop was so gentle that jockeys could be seen "gossiping to each other" and Wheatley later commented that Spaniel could have sustained such a pace "right away to London".

[5] The lack of a testing gallop meant that almost all of the runners were still in contention turning into the straight and the race devolved into a sprint over the last quarter mile.

Spaniel produced the best acceleration to take the lead in the closing stages and win quite easily[9] from Riddlesworth, who appeared to be disadvantaged by the exaggerated waiting tactics employed by his jockey, George Edwards.

The winner's name and odds caused the New Sporting Magazine to comment that the heavy gamblers had been bitten by the "little dog" who had "run like mad".

[10] On his final start of the year he finished unplaced behind Lucetta in the Audley End Stakes over one and three quarter miles on 4 November.