Virago, a dark chestnut filly with one white foot who stood 16 hands high, was bred, like the Derby winner Voltigeur, by Robert Stephenson at his stud at Hart, near Hartlepool, County Durham.

[2] As a yearling, she was bought for either £300, £350 or £460 (sources differ) at the Doncaster sales by Henry Padwick, a notorious moneylender who used the name "Mr. Howard" for his racing interests,[3] with John Scott as the underbidder.

In fact, Day had made sure that Virago would not produce her true running by having her accompanied to the start by a stable lad who was instructed to hold onto the filly until the rest of the runners had gone at least fifty yards.

[4] In spring 1854 Virago was matched against the five-year-old Little Harry (winner of the Ascot Stakes) in a two and a quarter mile private trial race and won easily, receiving only ten pounds[5] (the modern weight-for-age scale suggests that a three-year-old filly should have been receiving approximately thirty-nine pounds from a five-year-old horse at this time of year).

Virago, weighted according to her moderate two-year-old form, carried 88 pounds to victory in the City and Suburban, winning by three lengths from twenty opponents, at odds of 7/4.

[8] On 25 May Virago won the Great Northern Handicap over two miles at York, winning easily by a length from sixteen opponents at odds of 4/6 to take a first prize of more than £2,000.

She won the Yorkshire Oaks, and then suffered her only defeat of the year when she was beaten by a two-year-old filly named Ellermire in a six-furlong County Plate.

[13] William Day felt that the switch to sprint distances was ill-advised and claimed that Virago only ran in the race because Padwick overruled her trainer's wishes.

[4] In May 1886 The Sporting Times carried out a poll of one hundred racing experts to create a ranking of the best British racehorses of the 19th century.

Despite having been retired more than thirty years previously, Virago was ranked in the top ten by thirty-six of the contributors, placing her seventh among all horses and making her the highest-rated filly or mare.