Bred by Henry Vansittart, he was a half brother to the St Leger and Ascot Gold Cup winner Van Tromp (br c 1844 Lanercost). He was campaigned by Archibald William Montgomerie (1812-1861), 13th Earl of Eglinton and 1st Earl of Winton, who also raced Van Tromp and the St Leger winner Blue Bonnet (b f 1839 Touchstone). His dam Barbelle had a short turf career, entering the stud at the conclusion of her three year old season. Standing 15 hands 3 inches, the Dutchman, as he was often called, was said to be a magnificent specimen of a racehorse and described as having a strong neck, "fine deep shoulders, good girth, powerful back, very strong quarters well let down," with "good thighs, immense arms and very large bone". He was thought to stand over a trifle at the knee.

Trained in Middleham by Mr J Fobert at Spiggot Lodge he was said to travel so freely and pull so much that he invariably "took his gallops quite unaccompanied". He won all five of his two year old races, his enormous stride leading turf observers to declare that he had yet to be extended. Seemingly invincible he won all six of his races as a three year old, including the Derby and St Leger Stakes. Following three days of rain the going was very heavy for the Derby and the Dutchman distinctly uncomfortable as a consequence, however, just when it appeared that he might lose, his jockey gave him a couple of taps, the only time he was ever touched, and he flew the final strides. In his first engagement the next year he won the Emperor of Russia's Plate by eight lengths and his second race by ten lengths. Then he met Voltigeur (br c 1847 Voltaire), who had won that year's St Leger two days previously, for the Doncaster Cup. The Dutchman gave Voltigeur 19 pounds, carried an allegedly drunken jockey, may not have been fully recovered from a severe gallop the day before, of which it was said The Druid never ceased to speak, and lost by half a length. The two met again for a match held the following spring in which the Dutchman gave Voltigeur 8.5 pounds and won by a length. Although the race was said to have been "resolutely contested throughout" the outcome was never in doubt.

In the stud for some while at the Rawcliffe Paddocks he had little success initially although he got the Derby winner Ellington (br c 1853) and the Oaks winner Brown Duchess (br f 1858). He was eventually sold to the Administration des Haras in France for over 4,000 pounds and sent there in 1859. His enduring legacy was his son Dollar (b c 1860) who established the Dollar sire line in France, which is now the only surviving branch of the male line descending from King Herod (b c 1758 Tartar). Over two hundred years later Ahonoora (ch c 1975 Lorenzaccio) had the distinction of getting the Two Thousand Guineas winner Don't Forget Me (b c 1984) and the Derby winner Dr Devious (ch c 1989).