Nonoalco was bred by American chocolate magnate Forrest Mars, whose mother Ethel V. Mars was a major Thoroughbred owner/breeder through her Milky Way Farm. Nonoalco was purchased and raced by María Félix, a Mexican actress and wife of French financier Alex Berger.
Retired to stud having won four Group One races, Nonoalco stood in France in 1975 and in Ireland from 1976 through 1981 before being shipped to Japan, where he stood until his death at age twenty-one in 1992. His offspring included Noalcoholic and Katies.