Equine Art, Sculptures & Decorative Arts
Medium: Bronze Sculpture
Measurements: W 58cm x H 40cm x D 15cm
Stock: Sold
Philip Blacker Bronze Sculpture – Be Friendly
Limited Bronze Sculpture – Edition 2/15
Signed & Dated – PB 2003
Provenance: Private collection, Cheshire
Supplied with a certificate of authenticity
Please note the dimensions of this work are W 58cm x H 40cm x D 15cm
Sir Peter O’Sullevan CBE was the owner of Race Horse ‘Be Friendly’ who won the King’s Stand Stakes at Ascot and the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp in 1968.
Be Friendly was also twice winner of the Haydock Sprint Cup in 1966 & 1967.
The achievements of Be Friendly was commemorated in 2003 when a life-size statue of the horse was unveiled at Haydock Park.
British sculptor Philip Blacker was born in Dorset in 1949. Blacker became a professional jockey in 1969 during which time he rode 340 winners and was victorious at many prestigious meetings throughout the UK. Blacker retired from horse racing in 1982 to concentrate on becoming a full-time professional sculptor. A former art student before his horse racing career, Blacker produced a life size sculpture of Red Rum in 1987 which was unveiled at Aintree Racecourse by the Princess Royal. Since then, Blacker has created 20 or more life size equine sculptures including Best Mate at Cheltenham, Persian Punch at Newmarket and Desert Orchid at Kempton. In 2017 Blacker produced 400 small bronze sculptures of Red Rum to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Red Rum’s third Grand National victory. Philip Blacker is one of the UK’s leading sporting sculptors with many works being held in private and corporate collections around the world.