Follower of Benjamin Marshall

This painting was formerly incorrectly titled 'A match between King Charles and Luckless' who were in fact two fictional horses. Instead it depicts the match between Eagle and Bobtail for 200 guineas over 6 furlongs at Newmarket on 4th April 1804. The winner (Eagle) is in the colors of Mr. (later Colonel) Mellish and the looser those of the Earl of Egremont (Dark Green; Black cap). In fact, Egremont had given or sold Bobtail to his trainer Frank Neale after a fine career for his lordship from 1798 to 1802 but for some reason Neale decided to run in Egremont's silks.

The present work depicts various elements taken from works by Marshall. The image of Eagle is taken from an unfinished Marshall of the match between Eagle and Eleanor on 31st October 1804 that belongs to the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket. Also taken from another work by Marshall is the image of Fuller, the clerk of the course, as is the man on the horse by the winning post. Also shown is Richard Prince, trainer of Eagle, as the figure beside the judge's box. This image comes from another Marshall painting and a similar image can be seen in the Mellon Collection.