The colonial interest in horse breeding and racing generated a significant local market for equine portraits. Artists like Joseph Fowles received regular commissions for conventionally posed full-length profile views, a formula for horse portraiture imported from England. 

This portrait shows an unnamed Australian horse in a racetrack setting, with jockey in satin jacket and cap.

Horse racing was already well established in and around Sydney by 1810, when the first official race meeting was held in Hyde Park.