Owned and bred by Sir Victor Sassoon, he was out of the mare Edie Kelly, and sired by Aureole, a winner of the Coronation Cup and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The race was run in warm, sunny weather and attracted the customary huge crowd,which included the Queen.
[8] In the St Leger at Doncaster in September he stated odds-on favourite against eight rivals and won easily by three lengths from Die Hard.
In the Eclipse he led from the start and won impressively from Proud Chieftain, leading the Glasgow Herald to describe him as "the complete racehorse".
[10] He started favourite for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot one week later, but was beaten three lengths into second place by the Prix du Jockey Club winner Right Royal.
[11] His defeat meant that he failed to break the record for prize money by a British-trained horse, his final total of $272,141 placing him second behind Ballymoss.