Lot 91: Clifton Tomson (1775-c.1829)

Panoramic view of British horse racing, The race for the St. Leger Stakes, Doncaster 1829
signed 'painted by Clifton Tomson' (lower left) and inscribed '1st Hon Mr Petres Rowton 2nd Ld Cleveland's Voltaire 3rd Ld Langford's Sir Hercules 4th Ld Worcester's Felt 5th W. Ridsdale's Clotilde 6th Mr Forth's Frederick 7th Mr Robinson's Bolivar 8th Sir E. Dodsworth's Young Patrick 9th W. Chilton's Don Jose 10th Ld Fitzwilliam's Bay Fy 11th Ld Grosvenor's Parnassus 12th Mr Gibbeson's Lady Sarah 13th Mr Earnshaw's Elastic 14th Mr Forth's Exquisite 15th Duke of Leeds Ch Fy 16th Lord Kilburn's Br C. 17th Mr Riddell's Lawn Sleeves 18th Ld Clevelands Stotforth 19th Mr Gibbeson's Wandering Boy' (lower left to lower right)
oil on canvas
24 1/2 x 26 1/2 in. (62.2 x 67.3 cm.)

Mathew Dubourg and John Clark, 1816.

The St. Leger Stakes is a one mile, six furlongs and 132 yard (2937m) thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-old colts and fillies run in September of each year at Doncaster, Yorkshire. First held in 1776, it is known as "the oldest classic turf race", having eclipsed the even older Doncaster Cup as the most important race run at the course.
Preceded by the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes and the Epsom Derby, it is the final leg of the English Triple Crown.

The original event was organised by Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (a prominent politician and former Prime Minister) and was the idea of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony St. Leger. On the day, the winning horse (from a field of five) was owned by Rockingham, with a horse owned by St. Leger following in second.
The event didn't receive its name until a meeting held between the 1777 and 1778 meets. When it was suggested that the race should be called the Rockingham Stakes, the Marquess is said to have replied, "No it was my friend St Leger who suggested the thing to me - call it after him".

Local legend suggests that Anthony St. Leger may have staged a fore-runner of the 1776 race at his private racecourse in Firbeck, eight miles (13 km) south of Doncaster.

Born in Nottingham, the son of William and Mary Tomson, Clifton Tomson specialised in painting racehorses, hunters, racing scenes, and occassionally shooting scenes. Many of his pictures were engraved and thirty-five were published in the old Sporting Magazine. He could be referred to as a 'transitional artist', as he painted in the more modern naturalistic style, as developed by George Stubbs and Benjamin Marshall.

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