It'a no exaggeration to say Queen Elizabeth II was the single most important figure in the history of British horse racing.
That accolade is not down to her achievements on the track, despite the many great horses who carried her colours to victory in the turf’s signature races. It was her dedication to, and love of, the sport – under pressure in recent times – that served to validate it in the eyes of a nation.
Willie Carson, who donned the royal silks – purple with gold braid, scarlet sleeves, black cap with gold tassel – summed it up. “As soon as you put those colours on, your chest comes out - you feel more important,” remembered Carson. “Any jockey who puts those colours on – they just felt that they had arrived.”
That the Queen would develop a passion for horse racing was inevitable. Her grandfather, King George V, won the Derby with Persimmon (1893) and Diamond Jubilee (1900) as the Prince of Wales.
And her father, King George VI, enjoyed notable successes with Big Game in the 2,000 Guineas of 1942 and Sun Chariot, who won the Fillies’ Triple Crown – the 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and St Leger – the same season.
During a visit to trainer Fred Darling’s Beckhampton stables, the young Princess Elizabeth ran her hands along Big Game’s neck and was so taken with the colt that she didn’t wash them for hours afterwards. Upon the death of King George VI in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II inherited the Royal Studs and saw Choir Boy lift the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot the following year.
Days earlier, her colours came close to triumph in the Derby. Her colt headstrong Aureole went off a 9-1 chance at Epsom on the back of a win in the Lingfield Derby Trial. But the nationwide will for a royal victory didn’t reach Pinza, who beat Aureole to end Gordon Richards’ search – the jockey had been knighted earlier that week – for a first Derby.
Aureole, who in 1954 captured the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot and the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes, was as close the Queen got to owning the winner of the world’s greatest Flat race, although Carlton House took third place to Pour Moi as the 5-2 favourite for the 2011 running. “The Queen sent for me and she was very nice, as always,” recalled Richards. “She congratulated me – there was no despondency.”
The Queen had better fortune in the other Classics. Carrozza and Lester Piggott gave her the first of her Classics when beating Irish raider Silken Glider in the 1957 Oaks. The following summer, Pall Mall landed the 2,000 Guineas, before the 1960s saw a dip in fortunes.
When Classic glory did return, it came via two fillies who were the product of Queen Elizabeth II’s breeding programme. Highclere, a grand-daughter of King George VI’s 1,000 Guineas winner of 1946, Hypericum, and Brigadier Gerard’s sire, Queen’s Hussar, lifted the Newmarket Classic and doubled up in the French Oaks, Chantilly’s Prix de Diane, in 1974.
But the greatest celebrations were reserved for her Silver Jubilee year in 1977. Dunfermline, another home-bred, went to Epsom with just one win to her name, but, ridden by Willie Carson for trainer Dick Hern, stormed home to beat Freeze The Secret.
And the daughter of Royal Palace became the only horse to carry her owners colours to multiple British Classic scores when denying Alleged and Lester Piggott in the St Leger at Doncaster three months later.
“I actually felt I was riding for the country because there was such a big build-up to this race, and it all worked out well,” remembered Carson. It needed the Doncaster stewards to ratify the result after interference between the first two home and Carson admitted: “I was on tenterhooks because I did bump Alleged. “I thought I was in trouble.”
Dunfermline’s Leger was the last of her Classics, but Royal Ascot – the meeting was the first entry into the royal diary every year – continued to yield winners. In all there were 24, none more popular than Estimate in the fixture’s feature race, the Gold Cup, in 2013. Twelve months earlier, Ryan Moore had ridden the Sir Michael Stoute-saddled daughter of Monsun to a five-length supremacy in the Queen’s Vase.
But the Ladies’ Day highlight proved a thriller as Moore forced his mount home by a neck. Millions around the world saw the Queen witnessing the final stirring strides in the Royal Box in the company of her racing manager, John Warren. “We were all trying our hardest to keep the excitement under control, but the excitement was too much,” said Warren.
“I can’t remember seeing the Queen so happy and excited and thrilled, so it was a truly magical moment. For a lady that has given so much to this country to win what is probably, after the Derby, the most historical race in the calendar gives me so much pleasure. It was an amazing event.”
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