Her Majesty The Queen’s death on Thursday saw the mourning of our longest reigning monarch with the world of horse racing losing their biggest friend.
As tributes are paid from all over the globe, here we reflect on her passion for the ‘Sport of Kings’, a sport our Queen adored, and look back on some of her great horses during her 70-year reign.
Despite her passing, her legacy will live on in horse racing courtesy of the horses she has bred and the races that bear her name, such as the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Champions Day and the race of the same name in Australia.
An almost ever-present attendee at major racing events like the Derby and Royal Ascot, Her Majesty would often be seen with a beaming smile where she was clearly at ease and comfort, discussing these beautiful beasts. It was therefore very telling that she was forced to miss both these occasions this year.
The Royal Procession, 2pm on the dot every day of Royal Ascot, was as synonymous with the meeting as the horse racing itself.
The famous scarlet, purple and black silks with gold braids were carried to victory over 1800 times and saw the Queen crowned Champion Owner twice, in 1954 and 1957, following a first success courtesy of Monaveen at Fontwell in 1949. Her final runner, Improvise, was beaten a short head at Epsom on Thursday afternoon.
Amongst those winners were five classic winners, although the Derby sadly eluded her. There were also 24 scorers at Royal Ascot with Estimate landing the Gold Cup in 2013 a highlight. A statue of the Sir Michael Stoute trained mare stands in the grounds of Sandringham estate.
Upon her coronation in 1953, she immediately took over the Royal Stud at Sandringham from her late father, King George VI, having developed her interest during the Second World War. She has a keen eye for a horse and talked at eight with their trainers and grooms with regards to their mental and physical traits. An owner with a very keen interest in all aspects of her thoroughbreds, she was often seen at the races with her racing manager and bloodstock advisor, John Warren.
Such was her love for the thoroughbred, Warren had previously said “I'm sure if the Queen had not been bred into being a monarch, she would have found a vocation with horses. It was just simply in her DNA”.
Here we look back on her best horses over her seventy-year period as Queen Elizabeth II.
ESTIMATE
Sir Michael Stoute and Ryan Moore would team up for the Queen's most memorable Royal Ascot success in the 2013 Ascot Gold Cup, the first reigning monarch to land the feature prize for 207 years.
It was the second successive victory at the meeting for the mare, having landed the Queen's Vase the previous year.
It was a game effort from the four-year-old over the longest trip she had tackled, holding on by a neck from Irish raider Simenon to scenes of triumph and jubilation in the Royal box.
Estimate retired a winner of five of her thirteen races and £375k in prize money. To date she has produced three foals with nine wins between them.
DUNFERMLINE
The Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 was crowned in style with a pair of classic successes courtesy of another brilliant mare, Dunfermline.
In the spring, she got the better of Freeze The Secret, ridden by Frankie Dettori’s father, Gianfranco, in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.
Stepping up three quarters of a mile in trip come September, she landed the St Leger at Doncaster getting the better of odds-on favourite, Alleged. It was the only defeat of his career.
HIGHCLERE
Earlier in the 70s, The Queen had already owned a dual classic heroine.
Highclere took the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in 1974 in first time blinkers, trained by Major Dick Hern and ridden by Joe Mercer.
Highclere then crossed the channel to claim the Prix De Diane (French Oaks) where Her Majesty was a guest of honour. The mare comfortably landed her second classic to great scenes of celebrations.
The name Highclere, although a castle near Newbury, is still synonymous with horse racing as the title of a prominent owner’s group, counting celebrities and royalty amongst their syndicate members.
HEIGHT OF FASHION
Height Of Fashion, a daughter of Highclere, won three group races during her unbeaten juvenile campaign for The Queen in 1981.
Having won the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes at three, Height Of Fashion was subsequently sold to Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum as a broodmare where she etched her name into racing folklore.
Under The Sheikh’s name Height Of Fashion went on to produce some of the sports stellar names, such as Nashwan, Nayef and Unfuwain, with the family also producing further talented offspring, like classic winners Eswarah and Ghanaati.
Despite these being reared at Darley Stud, they could all be traced back to The Queens’ mare, bred herself at the Royal Stud in Sandringham.
CARLTON HOUSE
Carlton House came closest to giving Her Majesty a dream Derby win.
Although Aureole did finish runner-up in 1953, Carlton House was only beaten by a length when third to Pour Moi in the 2011 running.
Despite The Queen breeding so many of her horses, Carlton House was a gift from her great friend, Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai.
Having won the Dante at York in the previous May, the Sir Michael Stoute trained three-year-old was the big story in the lead up to the classic.
Having started his 4yo career with victory at Sandown in the Brigadier Gerrard Stakes, Carlton House embarked on a career in Australia, still carrying the Queens’ silks before retirement in 2014.
