Thomas Walker Bretland (British, 1802-1874)
CAPTAIN CORNISH, 1854
Oil on canvas, 24 3/4" x 30"
Inscribed Captain Cornish, dated 1854
Indistinctly inscribed ridden by J.H. Peart Senr,
Signed T. Bretland, and inscribed Notts
Captain Cornish was a chestnut colt by Iago. In 1853 under the ownership of the breeder Mr. William l'Anson, of Spring Cottage, Malton, England, the three-year-old Thoroughbred placed second three times - in the Convivial Handicap at Malton with Olliver up; the Sweepstakes at Ripon with Chilman in the irons; and the Dundas Handicap at York with Chilman up. That season he also won the Brocklesby Stakes piloted by Chilman at Lincoln. In 1854 he won the Malton Handicap with Wells up listed under the ownership of G.B. Cornish, who is known to have shared partnership of another racehorse with l'Anson. The jockey in the present work is wearing l'Anson's colors of straw and green and by the inscription is identified as J.H. Peart, a jockey active during the mid-1850s, possibly at the Nottingham Racecourse.