[5] In June the colt was dropped in distance and moved up sharply in class when he was sent to England for the Group 3 Coventry Stakes over six furlongs at Royal Ascot.
He was the least fancied of the Ballydoyle quartet, starting ay 16/1 whereas Hold That Tiger was made 11/10 favourite with Marino Marini (Marble Hill Stakes) on 7/2 and Oratorio on 9/1.
Spartacus led from the start before giving way to Marino Marini a quarter mile from the finish but then rallied to regain the advantage inside the final furlong.
He went from winning a seven-furlong maiden at Gowran Park to the Coventry at Royal Ascot, where he was all at sea back to six furlongs on very fast ground which he had never worked or raced on.
"[8] After missing a scheduled run in the National Stakes Spartacus was sent to France for the Grand Critérium at Longchamp on 8 October and finished seventh of the fourteen runners behind Hold That Tiger.
Two weeks after his defeat in Paris attempted to end his season with a second Group 1 success when he travelled to Italy ad started 1.3/1 favourite for the Gran Criterium over 1600 metres at San Siro Racecourse in Milan.
In the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood a month later he disputed the lead in the early stages before dropping away in the straight and finishing last of the nine runners, ten lengths behind the winner Reel Buddy.
[12] His best winners included All The Aces (Fred Archer Stakes), Rastignano (Gran Premio d'Italia) and Strait of Mewsina (Hawthorne Derby) and Spare A Fortune (Group 3 Metric Mile Handicap).