Horse Paintings for Sale - Original Oils and Signed Prints by Tom Chapman
Tom Chapman rode his first race on February 17, 1977. He was young, lean, and by his own account, fearless in the way that only someone who has not yet been seriously thrown can be. What followed was nearly twenty years on the California thoroughbred circuit - Del Mar, Bay Meadows, Santa Anita, tracks up and down the state. He rode alongside Bill Shoemaker, widely regarded as the finest jockey who ever lived. He sat on great horses and ordinary ones. He learned, over thousands of races, how to read what was happening beneath him before it showed up in the result.
In 1996 he retired from racing. By then, something else had already taken hold. There are photographs of Tom in the Bay Meadows jockeys' room - still in his silks, easel wedged between the lockers, painting Canada geese between races. The transition from jockey to painter was not a reinvention. It was a continuation.
That background is worth understanding before you look at his paintings, because it explains something that is otherwise hard to articulate - why his horse paintings feel different from most of what is available when you go looking for equestrian art online.
What Tom Brings to Equine Painting That Most Artists Cannot
Most painters who work with horses study from photographs or visits to the track. Tom studied from the saddle for two decades. He knows what a horse's neck looks like when it is finding another gear. He knows the difference in how a horse carries itself when it is running with heart versus going through the motions. He has described noticing a particular quality in the eyes of great horses - a spark, a presence - that he encountered in Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Zenyatta, and Barbaro, among others.
That is not a romantic language. It is the observation of someone who spent years at close quarters with thoroughbreds at the highest level of the sport. And it comes through directly in his painting. The anatomy is accurate because it was learned firsthand. The eyes have weight because Tom knows what he is looking for when he paints them.
He works primarily in oil, using classical realism as his foundation, with an impressionist influence in how he handles light. He paints decisively - the brushwork is confident, not tentative. When you look at his racing paintings in particular, there is a quality of movement in them that is hard to achieve without knowing these animals personally.
The Hall of Champions - Painting Racing's Greatest Horses
The Hall of Champions collection is where Tom has focused much of his equestrian work - a series of paintings dedicated to the horses that left a mark on thoroughbred racing history.
Secretariat is represented in two versions. The portrait - Big Red as he was in his youth, painted against a dark background that pushes the warmth of his coat forward - is one of Tom's most recognized pieces. Customers who have bought it describe it consistently the same way: framed in an office or living room, it is the first thing anyone mentions when they walk in. The painting is available as a signed and numbered limited edition canvas print in multiple sizes.
American Pharoah appears in two separate paintings. The first is a portrait of the horse immediately after winning the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic - the race that made him the only horse in history to win both the Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner, and the first in 37 years, since Affirmed won it in 1978. The second painting - the larger, more complex piece - captures a full narrative of his Triple Crown campaign, including jockey Victor Espinoza, owners Ahmed and Joanne Zayat, trainer Bob Baffert, and the Belmont trophy presentation. There are 800 prints of that painting total, no artist proofs. Tom made that decision deliberately so more people could own it.
Zenyatta is represented three times. She won 19 of 20 starts over her career, including the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic and the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic - the open Classic, against the colts - making her one of only three fillies or mares to win that race. Tom painted her winning the Lady's Secret Stakes, the Ladies' Classic, and the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic. In the Lady's Secret painting, he captured her eight wide, ears pricked, with jockey Mike Smith giving her a single tap on the shoulder - because that is all she needed.
Citation - the 1948 Triple Crown winner and the first thoroughbred in history to earn one million dollars in career earnings - is available in three print sizes: 14 x 11 inches at $170, 20 x 16 inches at $320, and 30 x 24 inches at $600. A greeting card version is also available at $10.
Affirmed, the 1978 Triple Crown winner and the last before American Pharoah ended the 37-year drought, is painted at the Clubhouse turn of Churchill Downs during the Kentucky Derby - 18-year-old Steve Cauthen aboard, the background pushed back to silhouette, the pink of the silks the only bright color in an otherwise unified palette.
The full Hall of Champions collection, along with Tom's broader signed and numbered limited edition canvas prints, covers 44 individual pieces across horses, racing scenes, wildlife, and birds.
Horse Racing Paintings - Specific Moments, Not Generic Compositions
Beyond the individual horse portraits, Tom's horse racing collection covers specific race moments and scenes from inside the sport. The Calm Before the Race captures the paddock - the atmosphere before the gate opens that anyone who has spent time at a track will recognize immediately. It's All in the Hands focuses on the jockey's craft, a subject Tom is uniquely qualified to address. The Russell Record documents a specific competitive moment with the same insider accuracy that runs through all of his racing work.
These are not generic compositions designed to look like horse racing. They are paintings by someone who lived there.
Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Canvas Prints - How They Work
Tom's limited edition prints are produced on canvas using archival inks and signed and numbered by hand. Each series has a fixed edition size - once that number is reached, the print is closed. The American Pharoah Triple Crown painting, for example, is limited to 800 prints total across all sizes, with no artist proofs.
Prints typically ship within one to three weeks. Each comes with a certificate of authenticity. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Sizes and prices vary by painting. Smaller prints generally start around $140 to $170. Mid-size prints run $220 to $320. The largest sizes - typically 30 x 24 inches - run $600 for newer work like Citation.
If you are buying equine fine art for the first time, a signed limited edition print is the most direct way to own Tom's work at a defined price point. The editions are genuinely limited. That is not marketing language - it is how Tom has structured the prints from the beginning.
Original Oil Paintings
Tom's original oil paintings are also available. These are the canvases Tom painted on - not reproductions. When a painting sells as an original, it is gone. Some of the horses in the Hall of Champions, including American Pharoah, were sold as originals before prints were made from them.
If you are looking to acquire an original rather than a print, the right step is a direct conversation with Tom about what is currently available.
Custom Commissioned Horse Portraits
If you want a painting of a specific horse - your own, a horse that belongs to someone you know, or a horse from racing history that Tom has not yet painted - he takes custom commissions. He also paints dogs and cats on commission.
The process is straightforward. You call or email to discuss the painting - size, composition, background, what you want the finished piece to show. Tom works from your reference photographs. Pricing depends on size and complexity. That means once we settle on a price. A down payment of 50% is required to begin a horse commission. Dog and Cat commissions should also require a 50% down payment
Tom paints one commission at a time with the same attention he gives his own work. He ships when the painting is finished, and payment is complete.
Getting in Touch
Chapman Fine Arts is based in San Carlos, California.
Browse the full collection at chapman-arts.com
If you want to understand how Tom's racing background connects to his painting, the Artist's Journey page covers it in full - including photographs from his years on the track and the studio that followed.