Benjamin Marshall (Leicestershire 1768-1835 London)

Marshall was one of the most successful sporting painters at the end of the eighteenth Century, and it was his mastery of this genre that secured him such patrons as Lord Scarbrough and the Duke of Rutland. His pupils included John Ferneley (1782-1860) and Abraham Cooper (1786-1868), and his artistic influence can clearly be seen in their works. The present picture was painted after Marshall left London for Norfolk in 1812 to be near Newmarket, the heart of the British thoroughbred industry.