Aquatint, Lithograph, and the Instant · At the Rail
The Dead Heat for the Doncaster St Leger, with 'Voltigeur' and 'Russborough'
Henry Thomas Alken, oil on canvas, 1850 · oil on canvas
What it is
Voltigeur and Russborough cross the post together at Doncaster, Alken freezing the one result nobody could yet call.
Why it matters
A dead heat for the St Leger was rare enough to be news in itself; the run-off that finally settled it came after, which is why this picture holds a result the crowd hadn't got yet.
What to notice
the two horses' noses level to the same inch, the entire composition built on that single measurement.
Some finishes refuse to choose.
Provenance
- Maker
- Henry Thomas Alken, oil on canvas, 1850
- Era
- The Victorian Turf (1837–1901)
- Chapter
- The String at Full Stretch
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Made
- 1850
- Horse
- Voltigeur
- Source
- Brodick Castle, National Trust for Scotland (58.1.2)
Print master
The largest formats are printed from a master enlarged 3× from the surviving 1200×873 scan by AI enhancement (Claid smart-enhance), prepared for the considered detail of a print viewed at distance. The source record above is unchanged — the enhancement serves the wall, not the archive.
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the work’s own year of publication. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-20.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 18x24" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
More from the Stable Wall
Steeplechasing — The Start
‘Elis’, Winner of the St Leger, 1836
Fores’s National Sports — The Run In
The Trotting Mare Nancy Hanks
Elsewhere in the family
- The Links — the other morning religion.
- Painted Lineage — the bloodline, beside the family line.
- Painted Earth — home ground as a period map.