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Horse racing, a sport of English origin, became popular on the Continent at the end of the eighteenth century, and soon inspired such painters as Carle Vernet and Théodore Géricault, who were both influenced by English artists. It attracted the interest of later painters, too. Manet emphasized the elegance of these occasions, while Degas preferred to observe the horses in motion. He focused on the movements of man and animal. His first sketches of racecourses date back to the beginning of the 1860s. At first he was interested in the jockeys, but he also turned a keen eye on the spectators.
In the present painting the figures are grouped in the lower right-hand corner, cut off by the corner of the frame. The composition is similar to that of the earlier At the Races in the Countryside, but the emphasis on realistic drawing, which is evident in the earlier work, is replaced here by an arrangement of broad patches of colour. Degas is still attracted by the nervous elegance and disciplined dancing grace of the horses, but everything is blended in a harmony of colours, which turns the canvas into a mosaic.
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