Old Partner held by his jockey in a classical landscape signed indistinctly on the base of the column oil on canvas 99 x 123.5cm Footnote: Provenance: Acquired by Algernon Dunn Gardner (1853-1929) from Fores of Piccadilly on 17th November 1917 for £150 and thence by descent Old Partner, being grandson of the Byerley Turk, continued one of the most important bloodlines in thoroughbred racing in England. Bred at Brocklesby in Lincolnshire by Charles Pelham, he was later owned by George Montague, 2nd and last Earl of Halifax, winning 6 of his 7 races. That only defeat in 1728 to Smiling Ball precipitated his being sent to stud. There, under the care of John Croft, Old Partner was named the leading sire of Great Britain and Ireland in 1737, 1740, 1741 and 1743. His notable progeny included Tartar, Morton’s Traveller, Traveller, Golden Ball, Cato and Sedbury. Condition report: Oil on canvas which has been lined. The thin passages of paint have suffered from wear and damage . There is extensive retouching across the surface which is fairly well matched to the original. The varnish is clear and even with a bloom forming across the surface, noticeable in the darks. There are losses to the gesso and gilding on the frame around the sides.