Queens THE SPORT OF WRITTEN BY MARION E. ALTIERI PHOTOS COURTESY OF @ROYAL ASCOT, ASCOT.COM
@Royal Ascot
HRM Queen Elizabeth II petting her horse, Estimate, after winning the 2013 Royal Ascot Gold Cup.
@Royal Ascot 2015
HRM Queen Elizabeth II with world-renowned Jockey, Frankie Dettori.
It is good to be Queen, but even better to be a successful Thoroughbred owner. HRM Queen Elizabeth II enjoys the best of both worlds.
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n 2022, Her Majesty celebrates 70 years on the Throne, 60 of those years a Thoroughbred owner, breeder and lover. Princess Elizabeth began riding at age three. (Her love affair with the equine species is one of her most endearing characteristics; an anecdotal tale still circulates, that when she was a small child, she was asked what she’d like to be. The precocious youngster quipped, “I’d like to become a horse!”)
In 1948 Elizabeth got her first racehorse—the filly Astrakhan, a wedding present from the Aga Khan. The following year the Princess registered her colors. Under Steeplechase rules, she also registered a partnership with her Mother, and each owned a half-share in the Irish jumper, Monaveen. Monaveen, won the Queen Elizabeth (I) Steeplechase at Hurst Park in '49, giving the young Princess her first taste of
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racing victory. At just 23, the monarch-in-training had the heady winner’s circle experience, and never looked back. Her Father, King George VI, died on February 6th, 1952. His daughter and fellow horselover, acceded to the throne – just weeks before her 26th birthday. (Her formal coronation took place one year later, as it was deemed inappropriate to conduct such festive events soon after the death of a royal.) Inheriting the Throne meant also that the young monarch took the reins of her Father’s sizeable breeding and racing stock – a role she was born to fill. She moved gracefully into the role, calling upon her love of all horses and natural desire to learn ever-more about her new charges. Her natural curiosity and native intelligence contributed to her body of knowledge, and she grew as a horsewoman and clear-witted Thoroughbred owner. SARATOGATODAYNEWSPAPER.COM
