Bacchus, with jockey up, and his trainer Captain James Machell

It has been suggested that the horse in the present work is Bacchus by Claret out of Mona, foaled in 1861. The man would appear to be Captain James Machell, a famous figure on the Victorian turf scene right at the outset of his remarkable career. Machell was a soldier in Ireland in 1863 but had several horses and resigned his commission when forbidden to come to England for the 1863 St. Leger, purely as a spectator. Bacchus had been his only decent horse that year and was shipped to England and trained by Machell at Newmarket. In April 1864 Machell trained the horse to land a major gamble in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket, which set the Captain up thereafter. In 1863 the horse's only win had been at the little Irish track at Bellewstown on 8th July when ridden by D. Wynne carrying 6 stone 9 pounds. These are Machell's colors, the man is very like a young Machell and it is likely that the the scene is Bellewstown, painted in Autumn 1863 after horse and owner appeared in Newmarket. The subject of this painting was previously unknown and this is a significant discovery as Machell remained an important figure in racing right through to the following century.