WHYTE'S in association with CHRISTIE'S - The Ernie O'Malley Collection MONDAY 25 November 2019

132 72 American School 18th Century DIOMED, GOT BY FLORIEL OUT OF A SISTER TO JUNO, 1777 oil on canvas inscribed [Diomed got by Floriel out of a sister to Juno by Spectator, he was foaled in 1777 and belonged to Sir Charles Bunbury. In 1780, he won the Derby and several other races and is kept as a stallion at Great Barton in Suffolk] on label on reverse 14 by 19in. (35.6 by 48.3cm) Provenance: Purchased by Elon Huntington Hooker, c. 1912-20; By descent to Blanche Ferry Hooker; By descent to Helen Hooker O’Malley Roelofs; Thence by family descent Label on reverse reads: There was horse racing in this country (United States) before the revolution, but the great lift to the breeding industry came with the importation in 1789 by Colonel John Hoomes of Virginia, of Diomed, winner of the Epsom Derby of 1780. Diomed’s lineal descendents included such famous stars of the American turf as American Eclipse and Lexington. From 1800 to the time of the Civil War there were race courses and breeding establishments plentifully scattered through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Louisiana. In fact, thoroughbred racing was largely a Southern sport and that was the one reason why the Confederacy had such excellent cavalry in the Civil War. Excerpt from Information Please Almanac 1958: Article ‘Horse Racing’, p. 890 €1,500-€2,000 (£1,320-£1,750 approx.) Click Here for Large Images & To Bid Lot 72