Vanderbilt Cup Races

From the spectacular paintings of Peter Helck to the tin can art of David Wasserman, the action and passion of the Vanderbilt Cup Races have inspired artists for over 100 years. Today, David Folland, an artist specializing in motorsports from West Wales, continues to portray the drama and excitement of these races.

David Folland describes the above oil painting Chain Your Dogs as follows:

“Chain you dogs and lock up your fowls” proclaimed the posters on the first Vanderbilt Cup road race of 1904. In those pioneering days of the sport, most spectators were oblivious to the potential danger. These races were held annually until 1910, with crowds of between twenty-five thousand and two hundred and fifty thousand. Featured is the unique fifty horsepower Christie driven by its designer, J. Walter Christie, testing for the 1906 race, and can be seen passing Aloyous Huwer’s Bull’s Head Hotel, Long Island. It met with little success. The year before, he had equalled the world record for petrol-driven cars covering a mile in 51.15 seconds. His racing career would end in a near-fatal accident in 1907. This great inventor is, however, remembered now as “the father of the modern tank”.

The scene depicted in the painting occured during the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race at the corner of Northern Boulevard and Glen Cove Road in Greenvale. Today, Wheatley Plaza and Ben's Deli would be located to the right of the Christie and directly across from the Bull's Head Hotel, which was taken down in the 1980s.