Race painting a real winner

A PAINTING depicting a historic Leith event which was once a premier fixture on the Scottish social calendar has sold for tens of thousands of pounds.

The Last of the Leith Races, by James Howe, fetched £36,000 at the auction by Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh. The image showed horses and Leithers from the early 1800s gathering. The painting was part of a total £1.2 million haul from the Blair Country House sale.

Lyon & Turnbull director Gavin Strang said: “The sale has been a phenomenal success, making double the original estimate.”