Belmont sent his colt to race in England, where he was trained by John Watson, the private trainer of the Rothschild family, at his Palace House stable in Newmarket, Suffolk.

[5] Later that summer, Tracery showed improvement to win the St. James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in which he defeated the 2000 Guineas winner Sweeper.

[6] In the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood in July he again defeated Sweeper and became a leading fancy for the St Leger, with Lomond being regarded as his principal rival.

[2] On 11 September at Doncaster Racecourse, Lomond started 6/4 favourite for the St Leger, with Tracery and Tagalie equal second in the betting at odds of 8/1.

The American jockey Danny Maher had been expected to partner the horse but when he was obliged by his contract to take the mount on the outsider Charmian, the French-based George Bellhouse took over the ride.

He prepared for the race by running the Burwell Plate at Newmarket Racecourse over one and a half miles in which he was matched against Lord Derby's five-year-old Stedfast.

[9] The Gold Cup, which took place sixteen days after the "Suffragette Derby", featured a meeting between Tracery and the previous year's winner Prince Palatine.

Tracery was leading the field with six furlongs to race when a spectator, identified as a Trinity College student named James Hewitt, ran onto the racecourse waving a suffragette flag and a revolver.

[10] In July Tracery won the £10,000 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park, beating the 2000 Guineas winner Louvois by four lengths.