'Sir Henry' racehorse painting   Save
Ohio History Connection Museum Collections
Description: Artist Edward Troye (1808-1874) painted this portrait of the racehorse Sir Henry in 1834. A famous North-South race in May 1823 pitted Sir Henry, a four-year-old colt bred owned by Col. William R. Johnson of North Carolina, against nine-year-old veteran American Eclipse, owned by Cornelius Van Ranst of New York. The race took place at Union Course, a racetrack that was located in Queens, New York, in the present-day Woodhaven neighborhood, a residential area. The competition was a best-of-three series of races; the purse was $20,000. An estimated 60,000 spectators were on hand to watch the races. Despite being several years older and carrying a weightier rider than his rival, Eclipse won two of the three four-mile heats. The painting is in oil on canvas. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06948
Subjects: Paintings; Horses; Horse racing; Thoroughbred horse; Troye, Edward, 1808-1874
Places: Ohio History Connection Museum Collections