A watercolour drawing of a large crowd gathered at Ascot races, with many spectators and a race underway. Under a tree at far right is a wooden viewing platform, with wagons and tents behind. Watermark: Villedary Fleur-de-lys, similar to Heawood 1826-37 (English, c. 1740-60).

William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, revived the race meets at Ascot in 1746 after being appointed Ranger of Windsor Great Park. Thomas Sandby worked for the Duke on his military campaigns and afterwards on his plans for Windsor Great Park. Several characters can be identified in figure drawings by Paul Sandby (those of a 'Windsor character', RCIN 913552 and two servants of the Duke, RCINs 913551 and 914486) and it is likely that both artists were involved in its production. Further related figure drawings are at the Paul Mellon Collection, Upperville, Virginia (rep. Jane Roberts, Views of Windsor, exh cat 1995-7, no. 47). Several drawings in the Royal Collection relate to the Duke's equestrian pursuits, including his stables and coaches at the Ranger's Lodge (RCINs 914635, 914626, 914627, 914628, 914629) and his horses, grooms, coachmen and carriages (RCINs 914487, 914490, 914492, 914491, 914352, 914350, 914348, 914349, 914353, 914347, 914365-8, 914355, 914358, 914356, 914360, 914359, 914357). As John Bonehill and Stephen Daniels point out (Paul Sandby: Picturing Britain, exh cat 2009, no. 81), Cumberland was a breeder and owner who took a keen interest in the science of horseracing; his equestrian pursuits and interests were recorded in paintings by Stubbs, William Marlow, Sawrey Gilpin and David Morier. In the mid eighteenth century race meetings were becoming more accessible to the wider populace, and Cumberland's revival of the races at Ascot can be seen as part of his wider project to open up Windsor Great Park as a space for leisured sociability.

Like many drawings by the Sandbys the present watercolour is difficult to date precisely. Oppé (1947 catalogue) drew a stylistic comparison with a bodycolour of the Chinese Junk being brought ashore at the Bells at Ouseley (V&A, inv no. 113-1898, see also RCINs 914641 and 914642) dated to around 1753 on the basis of a related print from that year; it can also be compared in format and style to the watercolour for the Great Bridge over Virginia Water (RCIN 914647), one of the drawings that was etched for the Eight Views of Windsor Great Park in 1754. Roberts, Bonehill & Daniels give the drawing a later date, to around 1765, the year the Duke died. Roberts suggests that it was conceived as one of a series of records of Cumberland's equestrian interests towards the end of his life.