Samuel Henry Alken was born into an extensive family of successful sporting artists of Danish descent. He was the eldest son of his father, Henry Thomas Alken (1785-1851), whom was the most famous in Alken family of sporting artists.
Samuel Henry Alken continued the family tradition of sporting art by illustrating this series of four horse-racing engravings. He was also known as Henry ‘Gordon’ Alken, and signed his artwork as such in an attempt to distinguish himself from his father, thus his name appears as "G Alken" on these engravings. A Hurdle Race was engraved by Charles Hunt, a highly skilled engraver whom specialized in sporting prints.
