Lot Essay
From the third decade of the 19th century there was a reaction against the previous designs for sporting presentation plate. Antique cups and covers were increasingly replaced by scupltural pieces, either in relief or free standing. In reponse to this fashion London firms began employing sculptors and artists such as Edward Hodges Bailey (1788-1867) who began his artistic career as a wax modeller before turning to sculpture having been accepted by John Flaxman into his studio. In 1817 he was appointed chief modeller to the firm Rundell and Bridge but during his twenty-five years of employment he undertook commissions, such as the present lot, for private and commercial establishments. For the present lot he collaborated with the brothers MacCarthy, who were renowned for their production of animal statues, and such was the result that it was praised for the 'freedom which gives life to it as a whole ... and is no less happily transferred from the original model to the silver cast.', The Illustrated London News, 16 September 1843, p. 187.
The 1843 Doncaster Cup is the first of successive victories in the race for the bay mare Alice Hawthorn. Bred in 1838 by Muley Moloch out of Rebecca by Lottery, she had a prolific career winning a remarkable 51 of her 68 starts in the years 1841 to 1846, in all winning 7,894 for her owner/breeder Mr John Plummer. Trained and initially ridden by Bob Hesseltine and later by Charlie Peck, her most notable victories, aside from the Doncaster Cups of 1843/44, were the Chester Cup of 1842, the Goodwood Cup and Ascot Gold Vase of 1844. Not only was she an exceptional racehorse but, when retired to stud in 1847 as a broodmare, she went on the breed Thormanby, the Derby and Ascot Gold Cup winner of 1860, who went on to become champion stallion in 1869.
The 1843 Doncaster Cup, worth 300, was run on the Town Moor on 14 September with an unusually large field of ten, which has never since been exceeded. Alice Hawthorn started joint favourite at 5 to 2 on with Charles XII, who had himself won the race in 1839. Justifying her favouritism the mare won easily by 20 lengths with her co-favourite in second place. Founded in 1766, the Doncaster Cup is the oldest race for thoroughbreds in the country and it has run every year to the present day, with only eleven exceptions. Run on the Town Moor course, the track has been in use since 1595 as it is shown on the townplans of that date.
A steward of the course for 1843, Archibald William Montegomerie, 13th Earl of Eglington (1819-1861) owned one of the few horses which out shone Alice Hawthorn, namely The Flying Dutchman, who won the Derby and St. Leger of 1849 and was only beaten once in his lifetime, ironically in the Doncaster Cup of 1850. It is possible that Lord Eglinton commissioned and presented the trophy as it was common practise from 1770 until about 1850 that the steward of the course would provide plate for major races from their own pockets.
The 1843 Doncaster Cup is the first of successive victories in the race for the bay mare Alice Hawthorn. Bred in 1838 by Muley Moloch out of Rebecca by Lottery, she had a prolific career winning a remarkable 51 of her 68 starts in the years 1841 to 1846, in all winning 7,894 for her owner/breeder Mr John Plummer. Trained and initially ridden by Bob Hesseltine and later by Charlie Peck, her most notable victories, aside from the Doncaster Cups of 1843/44, were the Chester Cup of 1842, the Goodwood Cup and Ascot Gold Vase of 1844. Not only was she an exceptional racehorse but, when retired to stud in 1847 as a broodmare, she went on the breed Thormanby, the Derby and Ascot Gold Cup winner of 1860, who went on to become champion stallion in 1869.
The 1843 Doncaster Cup, worth 300, was run on the Town Moor on 14 September with an unusually large field of ten, which has never since been exceeded. Alice Hawthorn started joint favourite at 5 to 2 on with Charles XII, who had himself won the race in 1839. Justifying her favouritism the mare won easily by 20 lengths with her co-favourite in second place. Founded in 1766, the Doncaster Cup is the oldest race for thoroughbreds in the country and it has run every year to the present day, with only eleven exceptions. Run on the Town Moor course, the track has been in use since 1595 as it is shown on the townplans of that date.
A steward of the course for 1843, Archibald William Montegomerie, 13th Earl of Eglington (1819-1861) owned one of the few horses which out shone Alice Hawthorn, namely The Flying Dutchman, who won the Derby and St. Leger of 1849 and was only beaten once in his lifetime, ironically in the Doncaster Cup of 1850. It is possible that Lord Eglinton commissioned and presented the trophy as it was common practise from 1770 until about 1850 that the steward of the course would provide plate for major races from their own pockets.