Conformation and the Parade Ring · The Conformation
Mr E. J. Irwin's Foig-a-Ballagh, Winner of the 1844 St Leger
John Frederick Herring Snr, oil on canvas, 1844 · oil on canvas
What it is
Groomed to a shine and lit plain, Foig-a-Ballagh stands for Herring in the year he won the 1844 St Leger, Mr Irwin's Irish colt still cool from the yard.
Why it matters
His name means clear the way in Irish, and his blood carried on afterward through Irish and Continental stud books for generations; Herring paints the yard portrait every later owner would want copied.
What to notice
The light catches the shoulder the way an hour of strapping catches it, and no other way.
A name can outrun the horse that carried it.
Provenance
- Maker
- John Frederick Herring Snr, oil on canvas, 1844
- Era
- The Victorian Turf (1837–1901)
- Chapter
- The Yard Wakes
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Made
- 1844
- Horse
- Faugh-a-Ballagh
- Source
- Private collection
Print master
The largest formats are printed from a master enlarged 1.71× from the surviving 3514×2880 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 24x36" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
More from the Stable Wall
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.