London:
Queen Elizabeth II, who had a lifelong passion for horses, was an avid rider as well as a successful owner and breeder who enjoyed many notable triumphs.
Despite not having the budget of some of the sport’s giants, such as Irish breeding powerhouse Coolmore Stud or Dubai’s Maktoum family, the British monarch celebrated more than 1,800 winners.
In October 2021, she was recognized for her decades-long contribution to the sport by being inducted into the British Champions Series Hall of Fame, the first person to receive membership as a “special contributor”.
The Queen’s first win on the grass was with Monaveen over jumps at Fontwell Park in 1949 and she was a two-time champion flat owner, in 1954 and 1957.
She bred and owned the winner of every British classic except the world famous Epsom Derby, which triumphed in the 1,000 Guineas, 2,000 Guineas, the Oaks and the Saint Leger.
In a 1974 BBC documentary, the Queen, who rode horses for pleasure all her life and at ceremonial events, summed up her ‘simple’ racing philosophy.
“I like breeding a horse that is faster than other people’s,” she said.
“For me, that’s a long-ago gamble. I like to race, but I think I basically love horses, and the Thoroughbred embodies a very good horse for me.”
The late British monarch, whose mother was also an avid racing fan, came close to winning the Derby in 1953, the year of her coronation, when her horse, Aureole, was beaten to second place by Pinza.
The notoriously tense Aureole made up for it the following year by winning the race named after the Queen’s parents, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
As it should be, the racehorse sweated and threw his jockey onto the turf before the start, but eventually won.
“Extremely exciting. Wasn’t it a beautiful performance?” heard the queen say as she left the winners’ quarters.
Her unbridled joy was such that she had a case of champagne sent to the thirsty reporters in the press room.
Another horse of hers, Carlton House, was beaten by less than a height to third place in the 2011 Derby.
But while race win was tantalizingly out of reach, she triumphed at the Epsom Oaks—a race for three-year-old fillies—in 1957 with Carrozza and again 20 years later with Dunfermline in the year of her silver jubilee.
‘Passion in life’
Royal Ascot was a key event in the Queen’s busy social calendar, although she was unable to attend this year.
Race-goers and TV viewers witnessed her delight at the 2013 event as her colors — purple and scarlet jacket with gold braid and black cap — were carried to victory by her horse, Estimate, in the Gold Cup.
“It was so beautiful — she said the grandkids were sitting behind her in the royal box and they were screaming and screaming and she said, ‘I couldn’t hear what was happening,'” Kerry Jones, assistant to Estimate’s trainer Michael Stoute, told the Toronto Sun newspaper.
“That’s when we realized how much passion she has for her own horses,” she said. “It was fascinating.”
Camilla, the wife of her eldest son, now King Charles, told ITV Racing in June 2021 that the sport was the Queen’s “passion in life”.
“She can tell you every horse she’s bred and owned from the beginning – she doesn’t forget anything. I can barely remember what I bred a year ago, but she’s encyclopedic about her knowledge.”
The Queen’s race manager, John Warren, said winning trophies was not her main concern.
“She’s not into the thrill of owning or winning,” he told the Evening Standard.
“Competitive is a word I never associate with the Queen. She never said to me, ‘I want to win the Derby.’
“Her Majesty once told me, ‘My guess is breeding’.”
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)