Alken was descended from an illustrious family of sporting artists and was the elder son of the prolific sporting painter Henry Alken (1785-1851). He painted all aspects of sporting life, particularly racing scenes, and was noted for capturing the atmosphere and excitement of racing with an illustrative style similar to that of his father's.

Wild Dayrell, winner of the Derby in 1855, was ridden by Robert Sherwood and ran the race in two minutes and fifty-four seconds. Born in 1852 out of Ion and Ellen Middleton, he was jointly owned by Mr F L Popham, the owner of Littlecote House, Berkshire and William Craven, the second Earl. The Earl's passion for racing was a private and occasional hobby, although he had previously had a Grand National winner with Charity in 1841. Lord Craven's name is not mentioned as the owner of Wild Dayrell in the official Derby records and it is very possible that he did not even attend the race.

Wild Dayrell's trainer was Fred Rickaby who was the Littlecote gardener/groom at the time and trained the horse in the grounds of the house. He was also the great, great grandfather of the renowned champion jockey Lester Piggott.

The horse later sired Buccaneer who went on to win the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot.