The Chaise Match Run on Newmarket Heath on Wednesday the 29th of August, 1750

James Seymour, 1702–1752

1750

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

James Seymour's painting depicts a celebrated chaise match on Newmarket Heath on August 29, 1750, where Lord March successfully raced a four-wheeled carriage with four horses in under an hour. James Seymour’s painting commemorates a celebrated chaise match that took place on August 29, 1750, between the Earl of March and the Earl of Eglinton, Count Taase, and Mr. Sprowle. Lord March wagered 1,000 guineas that he could run a four-wheeled carriage nineteen miles in less than an hour with four horses and one postilion. The match was run on Newmarket Heath before a large crowd. Lord March’s carriage completed the course in just fiftythree minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Although he has omitted the crowds, Seymour has otherwise rendered the scene with scrupulous accuracy down to the groom in red coat, who rode ahead to clear