Eclipse with John [Jack] Oakley up signed lower left 'J. N. Sartorius pinx' and inscribed 'Eclipse by Marske' oil on canvas 34.5 x 42cm Footnote: Provenance: Thomas Miller Whitehead, sold to John Dunn Gardner (1811-1908) on 11th May 1891 for £120 with its pair of Smolensko, Thence by descent Exhibited: Grosvenor Gallery, Sports Exhibition, 1890, no. 225, lent by Thomas Miller Whitehead Eclipse, the most famous racehorse of the English turf by Marske out of Spiletta, was foaled during the great eclipse of the 1st of April 1764 at the stud of the Duke of Cumberland. At first, he displayed no remarkable character except bad temper (and interestingly in most portrayals of him he is shown with his head down and ears back). He first ran as a 5-year old on 3rd of May 1769 at Epsom in a race of 4-mile heats, winning easily at 4 to 1 on. For the 2nd heat, an Irish gambler Dennis O’Kelly made a wager that he would place all the horses, pronouncing as he did so, the most famous phrase in racing history: “Eclipse first, the rest nowhere.” Standing at just over 16 hands and of bright chestnut colour, Eclipse won all 18 of his races, usually beating his opponents by 10 or 20 lengths. He was retired early in 1770 mainly due to the lack of credible competitors, to the stud of O’Kelly who had bought him in two stages for 1750 guineas. His stud fee was 50 guineas a mare and he is believed to have sired in the region of 350 winners. Eclipse died in 1789 aged 24 following an attack of colic, when he was dissected by Charles Vial de Saint Bel, who published in 1791 An Essay on the Geometrical Proportions of Eclipse , in which he stated that it was worthy of notice “that the heart weighed 14 pounds”. His skeleton belonging to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons is on loan to the National History Museum. Condition report: Oil on canvas which has been lined. The picture is in plane. The paint layers are very worn, notably in the sky. The varnish is clear, glossy and even with a slight bloom across the surface. The frame is in a stable condition with some wear to the gilding.