A group of 14 official photographs of Nimbus and his victory in the 1949 Derby, including a superb 12 by 10. Central Press print taken directly in fr

A group of 14 official photographs of Nimbus and his victory in the 1949 Derby, including a superb 12 by 10. Central Press print taken directly in front of the winning post showing the three-way photo finish with Nimbus, Amour Drake and Swallow Tail, all b&w, many other excellent images including a huge crowd and scenes in the tightly packed winner's enclosure, various sizes The 1949 Derby was famous for being the first decided by the new photo-finish camera. The print, which took many minutes to develop, was called for by the judge, Mr Malcolm Hancock, to decide a three-horse finish, fought out between Nimbus, winner of the 2,000 Guineas, ridden by Charlie Elliott, Amour Drake, forth in the Guineas and winner of the French equivalent, with Rae Johnstone up and Lord Derby’s Swallow Tail, winner of the Chester Vase, with Doug Smith aboard – bookmakers taking advantage of the delay by laying prices on all three. These were days before racecourse commentaries and crackly Tannoys, and so, after what seemed an interminably long wait and with around 400,000 pairs of eyes trained on the number board, the numbers 13, Nimbus; 26 Amour Drake and 9, Swallow Tail, were hoisted aloft. The distances were a head and the same. At the Second July Sales at Newmarket, trainer George Colling paid 5,000 guineas (£200,000 in today's money), for the William Hill bred, handsome bay yearling, Nimbus, on behalf of Henry Glenister, who gave the colt to his wife Marion. Interestingly, Glenister liked to declare his occupation as a farmer, which in fact he was, farming 700 acres at Sible Hedingham in Essex. What he rarely disclosed, was that he was employed as the Assistant Manager of the London Branch of the Midland Bank Executor and Trustee Company in the City of London. Tragically, Henry Glenister committed suicide in his car in Sussex, on August 16, 1952. Later, the inquest revealed that Glenister had defaulted on a ‘considerable sum’ entrusted to his department, although the extent of the fraud was never made public. A more poignant end had taken place the day after the Derby, when Suzy Volterra returned to her dying husband in Paris. Leon, owner of Amour Drake, whose health had suffered during wartime internment by the Germans, had been too ill to listen to the broadcast, and so, before his death, his wife allowed him to think his colt had won the Derby. Lots 272 to 294 From the Collection of the Newmarket trainer George Scott Colling (1904-1959); and the Collection of Mrs Marion Glenister, owner of Nimbus, the 1949 Derby & 2,000 Guineas winner, being material subsequently acquired at Graham Budd Auctions. George Colling was the son of R W Colling and brother to Jack, a famous racing dynasty in the history of the turf.