A FORMAL visit to the Irish National Stud at Tully, and private trips to both Gilltown and Coolmore Studs, were some of the happiest moments during the state visit made to Ireland in 2011 by Queen Elizabeth II.

The monarch, whose reign lasted for more than 70 years, died peacefully at Balmoral on Thursday afternoon. She was 96.

Tributes have been pouring in from world and religious leaders, citing the late Queen’s lifetime of dedication to her people, her deep sense of duty, and the part she played in healing division, most especially her role in building a deeper partnership between Britain and Ireland. This stemmed from her visit to Ireland, and her memorable speech at Dublin Castle.

Yet, in all of the extensive coverage of her long life, one aspect keeps being spoken about, and this is her love of the equine, a passion she enjoyed for some eight decades, initially inspired by a visit to Fred Darling’s yard at Beckhampton to see a filly named Sun Chariot.

Bred at the National Stud, as the farm at Tully was then known, in 1939, this daughter of Hyperion raced for the Queen’s father, King George VI. Though reputed to have shown so little at home that she was almost returned to Ireland, Sun Chariot went on to win eight of her nine starts, capturing the 1942 Fillies’ Triple Crown.

Estimate

Few images capture what the sport of kings meant to Queen Elizabeth II more vividly than the scenes in the royal box at her own racecourse and her favourite meeting, Royal Ascot, when Estimate, a gift from His Highness the Aga Khan, won the centrepiece of that great five-day celebration of racing, the Ascot Gold Cup, in 2013. The joy and exuberance she and John Warren display is infectious.

Racing on the flat has always been an active passion, as was National Hunt racing for her mother. Just days after she was crowned monarch, newsreel footage of the 1953 Derby again show the Queen’s love for the sport, and her excitement, as Aureole narrowly failed to win the only British classic to evade her clutches.

Aureole was beaten by Pinza and, gracious as ever in defeat, Queen Elizabeth II instead offered her congratulations to the newly-knighted Sir Gordon Richards on his victory at the 28th attempt.

Racing silks

The Queen’s distinctive racing silks, a purple and scarlet jacket with gold braiding and a black cap, were first carried by her great-grandfather King Edward VII’s runners, but it was to be his great-granddaughter who enjoyed the most success with them.

Royal patronage of racing dates back to the reigns of King Charles II (1660 to 1685), responsible for putting Newmarket on the map, and Queen Anne (1702 to 1714), who founded Ascot racecourse.

As early as 1948, Meyrick Good in The Sporting Life acknowledged the importance of the future Queen Elizabeth II’s interest in racing. He wrote: “It is a matter of the greatest satisfaction to every racegoer in the land that the Heiress Presumptive to the Throne, HRH Princess Elizabeth, is an ardent devotee of the Turf”.

While she was to become a leading breeder and owner on the flat, the then Princess Elizabeth’s first winner came in partnership with the Queen Mother. This was when Monaveen won over jumps at Fontwell in 1949. The gelding was trained by Peter Cazalet and ridden by Tony Grantham.

Crowned champion

However, it was to be on the flat that Queen Elizabeth II made her mark. She was crowned champion owner in 1954, when the Cecil Boyd-Rochfort-trained Aureole lifted the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, after he had been to Epsom to take the Coronation Cup. She regained the title in 1957, when Carrozza, the lesser-fancied of her two runners from the Noel Murless stable after Mulberry Harbour, gave her a first classic success.

Carrozza had looked sure to be caught inside the final furlong by the Irish filly Silken Glider, but an inspired ride by Lester Piggott saw the royal filly hold on by the narrowest of margins, to massive cheers from the crowd when the result was announced.

The Queen’s fortunes suffered a slight dip after Pall Mall landed the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in 1958, with Canisbay in the Eclipse and Aiming High in the Coronation Stakes among her few big-race winners in the 1960s.

Nonetheless, a purple patch was around the corner. In 1974 there was another narrow classic success as Highclere, ridden by Joe Mercer for trainer Major Dick Hern, just held off Polygamy by a short head in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, before following up in the Group 1 Prix de Diane-French Oaks at Chantilly.

Dunfermline

The silver jubilee year in 1977 proved an annus mirabilis, thanks to the Royal Palace filly Dunfermline. She overcame trouble in running to win the Oaks at Epsom under Willie Carson, and then inflicted the first defeat on the subsequent dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Alleged in the St Leger at Doncaster.

One racing jewel that eluded Queen Elizabeth II was the Derby, dreams being dashed in 2011 when Carlton House finished third to Pour Moi after being sent off favourite. Hopes of a third Oaks triumph were high when Height Of Fashion was champion two-year-old filly in 1981, but Epsom was bypassed when connections felt she would not handle the course’s undulations.

Instead, Height Of Fashion won the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket before being sold to Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum for a reported £1.5 million. She later proved to be one of the best broodmares of the century and produced many good horses, including Nashwan who won both the 2000 Guineas and Derby in 1989.

Hall of Fame

The Queen’s significance to the sport cannot be underestimated, and her lifetime commitment was recognised in October 2021 when she became the first entry into the Qipco British Champions Series Racing Hall of Fame under the ‘Special Contributor’ category.

John Warren, spoke of the Queen’s “inner pride” at the invitation, while adding her “fascination is unwavering and her pleasure derives from all of her horses, always accepting the outcome of their ability so gracefully”.

British racing has been fortunate to have such a staunch supporter, and her passing robs the sport of an iconic figurehead.