“A Day at the Races” offers a feast of sporting art

A large selection of sports art from multiple collectors will be auctioned off later this month at Dreweatts February sale at Donnington Priory, near Newbury in rural Berkshire.

More than 600 lots are offered at A day at the races on February 21st and 22nd.

Sale begins with select content of Barton Hill House, the former home of Tim Rootes and Obby Waller. Comprising 108 objects including furniture, sculpture, sports art and artwork, this selection represents the pinnacle of their collecting and combined ownership.

Tim’s great love was horse racing and horse breeding. He had a stud near Banbury where many winners were bred. In 1995 he built the Georgian-style Barton Hill House on the site. Tim’s partner of 60 years, Obby Waller, was an accomplished interior designer who began his career at George Spencer.

Together, Tim and Obby have created comfortable homes to converse in. Obby was heavily influenced by the work of Colefax and Fowler, who had mastered 20th-century English country style.

Among the lots on offer is a wide range of furnishings including Howard style sofas and armchairs, traditional Georgian furniture and a range of artworks and sculptures dating from the 18th to the 20th centuries. In addition to what is on offer in this auction, they generously bequeathed pieces from the collection to their many friends.

The items of sporting interest are eye-catching, including large-scale works by renowned artists Philip Blacker and the late Heather Jansch.

Lot 95 is one of Jansch’s characteristic works – a large-format, naturalistically modeled driftwood sculpture of a horse. At an impressive 160cm tall and 170cm long, it is sure to grace any horse lover’s paddocks. It is estimated at £1,500-2000.

Smaller works of art include Lot 97, a limited bronze edition of Prancing Horses by Philip Blacker. Blacker is known for his solid knowledge of horses and their behavior. He is the son of Cecil Blacker, who competed as an amateur jockey at the 1948 Grand National. Philip himself is known as a jockey until his retirement in 1982. Since then he has been a sports art sculptor.

Here the artist has caught the horses in action, twisting and turning past one another, with one seeming to have the upper hand and the other dominating, perhaps on the verge of landing a punch to the body. Such behavior is not uncommon among stallions when fighting for dominance.

The sale will then continue with another English private collection of sporting art. This collection includes two other limited edition examples of Blacker’s work. Lot 109 shows a jockey and racehorse in full flight racing towards the finish line, while lot 110 is a more prosaic subject with a young rider bareback on a pony followed by his dog. Estimates range from £800 to £3000.

Dreweatts also offers a range of works by Simon Erland highlighting key moments in British horse racing history.

First of all, Lot 134 is a unique bronze maquette representing the result of the 1989 leadership of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth’s stakes at Ascot. Nashwan is famous for being the only horse to win the 2000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, Eclipse and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in the same season (1989). Dick Hern called Nashwan “the best horse I have ever trained”. The model captures the moment Nashwan, ridden by Willie Carson, smacks his old rival Cacoethes in the neck. Estimated at £2500-£3500.

Lot 135 is another maquette Portrayal of Baratheathe Irish bred and British trained thoroughbred racehorse ridden by Frankie Dettori.

Barathea landed the Breeders’ Cup Mile back in 1994. Jockey Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori hugged the corners with Barathea and pulled away by three lengths while setting a new course record of 1:34.5. It was the first Breeders’ Cup win for Dettori, whose most celebrated achievement was riding all seven winners in British Champions’ Day at Ascot Racecourse in 1996.

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