Trained by William Haggas, the son of Desert Breeze (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) won the G3 Gordon S. in August and was third to Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) in the G1 St Leger at Doncaster on Sept. 16.

John Warren, racing adviser to the King and Queen, said, “After giving it plenty of thought we have decided that Desert Hero won't head to the Melbourne Cup this year.

“It is obviously a world-class race and it was very tempting, but he is still a young horse and we will give him more time to mature.

“He will now have a good break and William will work out a plan for next year.”

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The Queen was given a full tour of the school, met current students, staff and horses, and then unveiled a special plaque to commemorate her visit and celebrate the school's four decades, during which it has trained thousands of young people to be able to excel in Britain's second biggest spectator sport, horse racing. She also visited the Newmarket Pony Academy, a community project run by the school and met students aged 14-17 from the Riding A Dream Academy, which supports young people from diverse ethnic communities and disadvantaged backgrounds, and who were undertaking a week's Residential Course, among other activities.

Andrew Braithwaite, Chief Executive of the British Racing School said, “It was a huge honour to welcome Her Majesty The Queen to the British Racing School today and to be able to celebrate our 40th anniversary in her presence. Her Majesty has been a huge supporter of British Horseracing and it was wonderful to be able to show her the multitude of ways that the School contributes so much to the sport through the world class courses that we offer to young people from all across the country.”

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Following Classic victories for Cachet (Ire), Native Trail (GB) and Eldar Eldarov (GB), more graduates of the two-year-old sales scene lifted one of last weekend's major races in Britain, the G2 Mill Reef Stakes, and also the G3 Stockholm Cup. 

Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) was imperious in the Mill Reef, and was the standout in a magnificent seven winners on Saturday for Roger Varian, which also included landing a Group 3 with Mitbaahy (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}) and the Listed Doonside Cup with Royal Champion (Ire) (Shamardal).

Varian had also featured prominently the previous weekend, claiming his second St Leger with Eldar Eldarov, who, like Sakheer, is owned by Bahrain's Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who races under the banner of KHK Racing, a name which only appeared on the British racing scene in 2020. This season KHK Racing has had 12 individual runners from six different stables.

Through trainer Fawzi Nass and bloodstock agent Oliver St Lawrence this is an outfit that has been making quite a splash at the sales in recent years, its purchases including the 2020 Arqana Select Sale topper Pure Dignity (GB), the Dubawi (Ire) half-sister to Sottsass (Fr), who is raced in partnership by Shaikh Khalid and his brother Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa. She has raced just once, winning well on debut at Newmarket, and is entered on Wednesday at Kempton.

St Lawrence said, “This is only the second crop of three-year-olds for KHK Racing in Britain, so to have a Classic winner and then a very promising two-year-old is very exciting.

“It's also very important for racing, and all the shaikhs that are involved in Bahrain are really enjoying it.”

Bred by Drumlin Bloodstock, Sakheer, who was bought as a foal by Camas Park Stud, was sold at Arqana 18 months later by one of the original breeze-up men, Willie Browne of Mocklershill. St Lawrence signed for him at €550,000 a year after picking up Eldar Eldarov at the same sale for £480,000 from Norman Williamson.

On the forthcoming return of a lovely broodmare prospect, St Lawrence said, “The intention is for Pure Dignity to run on Wednesday and if all goes well, Roger will try to find a black-type race for her later in the season. Then we will put her away, and she will race on next year, all being well. 

“I think both Shaikh Nasser and Shaikh Khalid are very keen to try to build up a quality broodmare band which will obviously take a bit of time.”

Shaikh Khalifa, who also races horses individually as Victorious Racing, has enjoyed success this year at Britain's flagship meeting, Royal Ascot, where Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}), yet another breezer, won the G2 Coventry Stakes for Archie Watson. He also owns the Listed winner and Group 3 runner-up Rocket Rodney (GB) (Dandy Man {Ire}).

St Lawrence added, “It has been a dream season and I am lucky enough to be buying these expensive horses, With that comes a lot of weight of trying to produce some good ones, but I think so far we are fulfilling that remit, though this season will be a tough one to follow.”

Those charged with running racing in Bahrain have signalled their intent to increase the domestic racing programme, with the G3 Bahrain International Trophy steadily gaining more traction, and the second Bahrain Turf Series set to kick off just after that in early December. On the back of recent results it is not hard to imagine that we will see increased Bahraini participation in British racing, too.

Easy to Please

In Scandinavia, the Lodge Park Stud-bred Hard One To Please (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) has been making merry this season. The winner of the Swedish and Norwegian Derbys in July and August, he stepped into Pattern company to land Sunday's G3 Stockholm Cup in the hands of Pat Cosgrave for trainer Annike Bye Hansen. 

An £8,000 Goffs Sportsman's yearling-turned-80,000gns breezer, Hard One To Please was bought by Walter Buick at the Tattersalls Guineas Sale. It could be a big week for the family as his half-sister Dandy Alys (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who was recently runner-up in the G3 Sweet Solera Stakes, is entered for Friday's G2 Rockfel Stakes. Their dam, the nine-year-old New Approach (Ire) mare Alyssum (Ire), has a Camacho (GB) yearling filly in Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Sale.

Move Over Hollie and Tom

Hollie Doyle and Tom Marquand are rightly feted, both individually and as racing's unofficial golden couple, but two other young jockeys, Saffie Osborne and David Egan, who also happen to be a couple, stole the limelight in the last week.

On Thursday, the second Racing League drew to a close in Britain, with a sensational 6,539/1 treble from Saffie Osborne, who duly lifted the £20,000 prize as the leading rider of the series. The 20-year-old jockey's most enjoyable moment of that evening would surely have been her victory on 40/1 shot Raising Sand (GB) for her father Jamie. The 10-year-old son of Oasis Dream (GB) has been a stalwart of the Osborne stable and his eighth win came two years after his last victory.

Osborne's recent run of success has propelled her into the top 50 riders in the country, the only other female on that list along with Doyle, who is second behind William Buick.

For David Egan, 22, it has been an up-and-down year. He lost his retainer with Prince AA Faisal in July, having previously ridden the owner-breeder's Mishriff (Ire) to victory in the $20 million Saudi Cup, G1 Dubai Sheena Classic, and G1 Juddmonte International. Taking the news of that reversal with admirable equanimity, Egan kept his head down, kept riding, and for his boss Roger Varian has been at the heart of a real purple patch for the stable, winning his first Classic on Eldar Eldarov and notching four wins at Newbury on Saturday, including in all three group races, two of which were for Varian and one for Hughie Morrison on Stay Alert (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).

Angel Shouldn't Be Kept in the Dark

It is hardly a news flash to say that Dark Angel (Ire) is an excellent stallion but Yeomanstown Stud's 17-year-old somehow seems to be a little overlooked. He shouldn't be, for he is currently riding high in the European sires' table in fourth position behind Dubawi (Ire), Frankel (GB), and Sea The Stars (Ire). That leading trio can perhaps be percieved more as 'Classic' sires, but Dark Angel has also been among the Classic winners this season via his daughter Mangoustine (Fr), winner of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, in which she narrowly beat the 1,000 Guineas winner Cachet.

The son of Acclamation (GB) was among the major winners on three continents on Saturday. In Canada, Dark Angel's two-year-old son, the Godolphin homebred Mysterious Night (Ire), strolled to victory in the G1 Summer Stakes to become his sire's twelfth Group/Grade 1 winner. This followed Mysterious Night's triumph in last month's G3 Prix Francois Boutin and was one of three graded stakes winners for Charlie Appleby in North America on Saturday, along with Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). 

Another of his juveniles, Barefoot Angel, bred by Guy O'Callaghan, landed the G3 Firth of Clyde Fillies' Stakes at Ayr, while earlier that day in Australia, the six-year-old Top Ranked (Ire), a former Group 3 winner for James Tate in Britain, had claimed his first southern hemisphere stakes win in the G3 Bill Ritchie Handicap for Annabel Neasham and Australian Bloodstock. 

Bravo, Mon Ami

Cracksman (GB) is making a pleasing start to his stud career with ten winners already on the board from his 26 runners to date, including the Listed winner Dance In The Grass (GB). It will also be worth following the progress of another son of Frankel (GB) bearing Anthony Oppenheimer's colours who made the most eye-catching start to his racing career last week. 

Courage Mon Ami (GB), out of a full-sister to Group 2 winner Bronze Cannon (GB) (Lemon Drop Kid), was well adrift of the main pack in the early stages when making his debut at Kempton on Friday, but that slow start gradually turned into a steaming finish as the three-year-old passed all his rivals with a ground-eating stride that saw him win eased down by five lengths. Certainly one for the notebook.

Tijuana's Record Enhanced by Tunnes

It would seem that the fairytale of the small breeder Paul Vandeberg still has a few chapters to be written. Vandeberg's lone broodmare Tijuana (Ger) (Toylsome {GB}) is already the dam of Arc winner Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}), and her three-year-old son Tunnes (Ger) (Guiliani {Ger}) has now added the G3 Deutsches St Leger to his victory last season in the G3 Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen. 

The latter had seen him made winter favourite for the Deutsches Derby, but a setback ruled him out of a spring campaign. Trainer Peter Schiergen indicated on Sunday that the colt will now be aimed at the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern in early November, the race in which his elder brother was second two years ago after winning the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin. Before that, Tunnes could head to Longchamp for the G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris, a fortnight after Torquator Tasso will attempt to defend his Arc crown.

Meanwhile, Vandeberg is sitting pretty with a yearling full-brother to Torquator Tasso and a weanling full-brother to Tunnes at home.

The Americans are Coming

Lope De Vega's excellent run, which has seen him recently notch his 100th stakes winner, was extended on Sunday across the pond with the victory of Faith In Humanity (Fr) in the G3 Pebbles Stakes at Belmont at the Big A (so named for the races held at Aqueduct while Belmont Park undergoes development work).

Faith In Humanity, bred in partnership by Ecurie des Monceaux and Lordship Stud, is yet another European-bought stakes winner for Klaravich Stables to add to the list which includes the Grade 1 winners McKulick (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Digital Age (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Word has it that American buyers will be out in force for the Orby and October Sales, and who can blame them? With a seeming reluctance from American breeders to use turf sires based in the US, and the exchange rate for the dollar against euros and sterling currently extremely favourable, the best place to shop for horses for an expanding turf programme is in Europe. 

Farewell to Her Majesty

As this column was being written, the solemnities of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II had brought much of Britain to a near standstill. 

On Sunday in Newmarket during the Henry Cecil Open Weekend, the public gallops which preceded a morning of stable tours were led by two of the Queen's horses, Educator (GB) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Saga (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), ridden respectively by Michael Hills and Rab Havlin wearing the royal silks in tribute.

A number of the Queen's racehorse trainers were observed among the congregation at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle for the service of committal. For many involved in racing, the last we saw of the Queen in public was at Ascot last October for Champions Day when she presented the trophy for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and was herself awarded with a commemorative medal to mark her induction in the British Horseracing Hall of Fame. Her Majesty's fellow inductee Lester Piggott was also at Ascot to be honoured that day. Now, in a mournful time for the sport, both are gone, but neither will ever be forgotten.

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This is a racing publication, of course, but before we reflect on the action on the racecourse, it would be remiss not to mention the heartbreaking human loss which was so intrinsically entwined with the sport. 

Grief engulfed two nations. Wednesday brought the indelibly sad image of Henry de Bromhead as one of the pallbearers carrying his son Jack's wicker casket from the Butlerstown's Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary surrounded by mourners of all ages. In solidarity with their friend who lost his life at the age of 13 in a pony racing accident, many of the youngsters appeared at the service in their riding gear.

Jack's grandfather Andrew Moffat and parents Henry and Heather gave us all a lesson in how to grieve with the utmost dignity while paying a magnificent tribute to the boy whose loss has touched people who never even met him, such was the eloquence of their respective eulogies. And during Irish Champions Weekend, Jack de Bromhead was remembered in the red armbands borne by the jockeys in his memory.

In Britain the armbands were a more sombre black. The death of the Queen is in many ways easier to bear than the loss of a teenager with so much sparkle and promise. A 96-year-old woman dying peacefully in the comfort of the Scottish home she adored is what could be described as a 'good death', but Her Majesty's passing is  of course far more symbolic than that. Its repercussions will be felt way beyond her funeral next Monday when Britain's period of national mourning ends. 

The absence of the sport's most celebrated insider will be felt keenly in racing circles. There are enough members of the royal family with a strong love of horses for us to be able to hope that the Royal Studs will endure, but none of the Queen's descendants appear to share quite the level of absorption and devotion she had for breeding and racing. Change will surely come.

Another two redoubtable members of the racing and breeding community also left us in the last week. On Tuesday evening came the shock news of James Delahooke's sudden death on the Yorkshire moors, while on Saturday the passing was reported of Evie Stockwell, whose contribution to the breeding industry has been enormously significant on both the equine and human front. At the age of 97 she had survived her twin sister Lady Mimi Manton by one month. As Eddie O'Leary observed in Nancy Sexton's tribute to Mrs Stockwell, “The world has lost two Queens this week.”

May it come as some comfort to the de Bromhead, Delahooke, Magnier, and O'Callaghan families that the thoughts of their friends and colleagues in the racing world are with them during this sad time.

The Versatile Dubawi Line

So to the horses. A one-two in the St Leger with Eldar Eldarov (GB) and New London (Ire) gave Dubawi (Ire) his 53rd Group 1 win worldwide, and if you are looking for a pattern for his offspring, the answer is that there isn't one, other than a shared willingness to win. 

From top Hong Kong sprinter Lucky Nine (Ire), who was one of his earliest stars, through champion 2-year-olds, Classic milers, smart middle-distance horses, and a Horse of the Year in Ghaiyyath (Ire), Dubawi pretty much has all the bases covered, including a slew of sons at stud. As well as in Britain's final Classic of the season, the line was also represented at Ireland's Champions Weekend when John Fairley's admirable Highfield Princess (Fr), by Dubawi's Guineas-winning son Night Of Thunder (Ire), sped her way to a third consecutive Group 1 win in three different countries, this time dropping back to the minimum trip to claim the Flying Five. 

Dubawi's latest Classic winner in the delayed St Leger came on the back of his daughter Mimikyu's win in the G2 Park Hill S. on the same afternoon that the White Birch Farm homebred juvenile Kubrick (Ire) won the G3 Prix des Chenes at Longchamp. On European earnings, Dubawi has edged ahead of Frankel (GB) in the leading sires' table and in fact he is way out in front when it comes to black-type winners for the year, his tally of 38 (12% of his runners) putting him ahead of Frankel by 14. The two mighty stallions, who live only about a mile from each other as the crow flies, are level pegging on seven Group 1 winners apiece this year in Europe.

The Lanwades Success Story Continues 

In her role as Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk, Kirsten Rausing was acting as master of ceremonies on Sunday while Newmarket's mayor Philippa Winter read the proclamation of the accession of King Charles III as Britain's new monarch. This meant that Rausing was not on Town Moor to witness a notable first for her as the breeder of a British Classic winner in Eldar Eldarov. 

She was however present for her first British Group 1 winner in her own colours when Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) won the Yorkshire Oaks to bring her Group 1 haul to five. Eldar Eldarov and Alpinista are out of the half-sisters Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) and All At Sea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) from the Lanwades Alruccaba (GB) family which just keeps giving. 

From a different family entirely springs the expat Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), another redoubtable Lanwades-bred who is thriving in Australia and now has 13 victories to his name, including the G2 Tramway S. on September 3. He is bound for the G1 Cox Plate on October 22 via the G1 Underwood later this month.

Firsts and Seconds For Many

Eldar Eldarov's St Leger win was also of significance for more of his connections. Notably, he became the second breeze-up graduate from Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm to win a Classic this season following the Irish 2,000 Guineas success of Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), last year's champion 2-year-old. Williamson was also the breeze-up pinhooker behind the 2019 Preakness S. winner War Of Will, who now stands alongside his sire War Front at Claiborne Farm. 

For Roger Varian, it was a second victory in Britain's oldest Classic following Kingston Hill (GB) in 2014, and his faith in his young stable jockey David Egan was repaid handsomely as the 23-year-old notched his first Classic victory in the same season he lost his retainer with Prince AA Faisal, for whom he won the 2021 Saudi Cup as well as two Group 1s aboard Mishriff (Ire).

Eldar Eldarov had been bought at the relocated Arqana Breeze-up Sale for £480,000 by Oliver St Lawrence for Bahrain's KHK Racing, thus also giving that relatively new owner in British racing a significant first Classic success. 

Kyprios Continues to Climb

The opening up of the Irish St Leger to older horses almost 40 years ago means that there have been a number of repeat winners, most notably the Dermot Weld-trained Vinnie Roe (Ire), who owned the race between 2001 and 2005. With Vincent O'Brien, Weld jointly holds the record for the most number of winners of the Irish St Leger, with the last two of his nine being provided by the admirable Moyglare Stud-bred filly Search For A Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Now six, she has run in the race in all four of her seasons in training, and added a third place to her fine record this year when finishing almost eight lengths behind her full-brother Kyprios (Ire), who is now the pre-eminent stayer in training following his unbeaten season which includes lifting the Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup.

The Weld stable enjoyed a successful Irish Champions Weekend, however, when unleashing the Aga Khan's Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), a half-sister to the brilliant Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), to win the G1 Moyglare Stud S. on just her second racecourse appearance. A day earlier her 3-year-old stablemate Duke De Sessa (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) won the G3 Paddy Power S., leading home a one-two for Maurice Regan's Newtown Anner Stud, which also owned and bred runner-up Thunder Kiss (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}).

Kyprios, who runs in the Moyglare colours but is co-owned by the Coolmore partners, sealed a fruitful weekend for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore as Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) confirmed his juvenile promise by winning the G1 Irish Champion S. on only his second start since resuming from an injury earlier in the season.

Auguste Rodin (Ire), bred on theDeep Impact (Jpn)/Galileo (Ire) cross that has already yielded Classic winners Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Snowfall (Jpn) for O'Brien, continued the tremendous run of the Ballydoyle juveniles this year with his success in the G2 Champion Juvenile S. in his first run in Pattern class. He could now be headed to England next month for either the Dewhurst or Vertem Futurity. It requires no leap of imagination to see Auguste Rodin make up into a serious Classic contender for next season as the colt is the first foal of the treble Group 1 winner Rhododendron (Ire), a sister to Magical (Ire) and daughter of the equally brilliant Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}).

Hint of Things to Come

Al Riffa (Fr) took quite a step up from maiden company to winning the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. on Sunday for Joseph O'Brien, and the result will certainly have been welcomed by the Coolmore camp. Though the colt from the penultimate French crop of Wootton Bassett (GB) is not owned by the Coolmore team but by Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah, he, like Auguste Rodin, is out of a Galileo mare and represents a cross that we are likely to see more frequently in runners following the stallion's move to Coolmore Stud two seasons ago.

The Galileo mares in Wootton Bassett's first Irish crop include Snowfall's dam Best In The World (Ire), Arc winner Found (Ire), and G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Clemmie (Ire), who is also a sister to Churchill (Ire), while those currently in foal to him include Group 1 winners Minding (Ire), Hydrangea (Ire), Marvellous (Ire) and Happily (Ire).

Al Riffa, who was bred by a partnership led by Haras d'Etreham, is Wootton Bassett's sixth Group 1 winner, that group being split evenly between colts and fillies. His pedigree certainly gives plenty of hope for him to thrive with age and a bit of a step up in distance. His unraced dam Love On My Mind is a sister to the dual Sagaro S. winner and Gold Cup runner-up Mizzou (Ire), while their dam Moments Of Joy (GB) was a Listed winner over 1m6f and is herself a daughter of the G1 Prix Vermeille and G1 Yorkshire Oaks winner My Emma (GB) (Marju {Ire}).

Al Riffa was sold as a foal at Arqana to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for €31,000 the same day that his dam went through the ring for just €11,000, bought by Arqana representative Zied Romdhane. The 10-year-old mare now has a yearling filly by Land Force (Ire) and was subsequently covered by St Leger winner Galileo Chrome (Ire).

Kingsclere in the Spotlight

Andrew Balding's association with Juddmonte has started in some style thanks to the smart juvenile Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who added the G2 Champagne S. to his victory in York's G3 Acomb S. 

A successful Doncaster St Leger meeting for the Kingsclere team also included group wins for two stalwart owners of Park House Stables. First, Bounce The Blues (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}) won the G3 JRA Sceptre Fillies' S for the irrepressible Barbara Keller, one of the most enthusiastic owners in the business who also raced the Grade 1 winner Blond Me (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}). Similar comments apply to Mick and Janice Mariscotti, who certainly know how to celebrate a big winner and struck on Sunday with the G2 Doncaster Cup winner Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}). With victories in the Ascot S. at Royal Ascot and in the Listed Esher Cup, the progressive stayer, who missed almost the whole of his 4-year-old season has certainly given the Mariscottis plenty of cause for cheer this year. Patience rewarded. 

The spotlight will soon be thrown on the Balding stable which features in a new series to be released later this month on Amazon Prime. 'Horsepower' runs in four parts from September 23 and, according to the press release announcing its launch, it “captures a momentous period in the lives and careers of its two main protagonists, racehorse trainer Andrew Balding and jockey Oisin Murphy”. 

The documentary series was being filmed when Murphy was banned for 14 months for Covid regulation and alcohol breaches. The trailer for Horsepower can be viewed below.

Stallions on a Roll

Shadwell's Muhaarar (GB) was represented by Group/Grade 2 winners on each side of the Atlantic last week. On Thursday, Polly Pott (GB) made sure Harry Dunlop's training career will go out with a bang by landing her fourth consecutive win on her first outing in stakes company when winning the G2 May Hill S. at Doncaster. 

Over at Kentucky Downs, Bran (Fr) won the GII Fanduel Turf Sprint S. Not only was the John Sadler trainee bred in France by Lordship Stud but she was ridden to victory by French Classic-winning jockey Vincent Cheminaud, who is now based in America. 

Ballylinch Stud's Lope De Vega was another stallion to exhibit his versatility on Sunday when represented at Longchamp by G1 Prix Vermeille winner Sweet Lady (Fr) over 1m4f and also by the 5f winner Berneuil (Ire), who landed the G3 Prix du Petit Couvert. Both horses are out of mares by Dansili (GB), which is a cross that has also worked well to produce Grade I winner Capla Temptress (Ire), Group 2 winner Cadillac (Ire), and the dual Group 1 runner-up and Group 3 winner Lope Y Fernandez (Ire).

Lope De Vega has been on a roll of late, with his daughter Dreamloper (Ire) winning the previous weekend's G1 Prix du Moulin to add to her G1 Prix d'Ispahan success, and the aforementioned Duke De Sessa winning a Group 3 on Saturday at Leopardstown. 

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For anyone in Britain born after 1952, all we have ever known is the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. There will be plenty of people who, for understandable reasons, do not approve of the monarchy. And it has not been uncommon to hear people express an anti-monarchist view while adding, “But I like the Queen”.

How the passing of such a steadfast presence will affect Britain, at a time of political upheaval, is unknowable. What is certain is that British horseracing, not entirely devoid of its own political problems, has lost its most recognisable and beloved figurehead, one whose mere presence at the races gave the sport a priceless allure.

It was a two-way street, however, for as much as the Queen gave to racing, she quite clearly reaped her own deep enjoyment from being a participant: a breeder, an owner, and most of all an enthusiast.

From Her Majesty's first winner, Monaveen, at Fontwell Park in October 1949 before she became Queen, to her final winner on Tuesday at Goodwood, it is easy to imagine that horseracing, and breeding thoroughbreds for that pursuit, gave her much joyful respite from the constitutional duties she took so seriously.

The last horse to carry her distinctive red and purple silks to glory during her lifetime was the juvenile Love Affairs (GB)–not a graduate of the Royal Studs but a gift, like Carlton House and Estimate (Ire), from a fellow major owner-breeder. And Love Affairs could scarcely have a more apposite name when it comes to reflecting on Her Majesty's enduring passion for the turf.

Her death has plunged Britain into a period of national mourning, with racing suspended for Friday and Saturday, and almost certainly on the day of her state funeral, which looks likely to be Monday, Sept. 19. Within the relatively small world that is racing, there is an overwhelming feeling that we have lost one of our own, united as we all are in an obsession for discovering which horse can run faster than the others.

To see footage of the Queen casting a knowledgeable eye over her homebreds at the Royal Studs, or on holiday at Balmoral surrounded by her dogs, was to see the person behind the persona–a countrywoman at heart. But she lived an extraordinary life–of privilege, yes, but also one in which she bore the unimaginable burden of duty and restraint. Her existence spanned almost a century, through one World War, while her reign incorporated 15 British prime ministers born 101 years apart–her first being her fellow horse-lover and racing aficionado Sir Winston Churchill and the last, appointed just two days before she died in the Queen's final act of constitutional significance, Liz Truss.

While for many of us racing is a job as well as a passion, one sensed that for the Queen it was the greatest release–from greeting dignitaries, cutting ribbons, blessing ships, and reading endless parliamentary papers. And isn't that something we should all remember: that racing is supposed to be fun.

Lord Huntingdon, the uncle of current royal trainer Andrew Balding, trained for the Queen for 20 years, their winners together including the G2 Ribblesdale and G2 Geoffrey Freer S. winner Phantom Gold (GB) (Machiavellian), who is now the granddam of one of the Queen's most recent Pattern-race winners Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

He said, “One of the best things about training for her was that she understood that if things didn't go quite to plan, the trainer would be just as disappointed as she was. She took those disappointments with great equanimity.

“Usually it would be Henry [Lord Carnarvon, the Queen's former racing manager] who would speak to her after races but if something had run particularly badly he would sometimes suggest that I telephone her. The Queen would realise what was going on and would say, 'I imagine things didn't go well then'.”

He added, “It was always such a pleasure to go to see the yearlings with her at Polhampton and I have enjoyed seeing the continuation of her families, particularly Phantom Gold's. When she came to the stables she would take just as much interest in other people's horses as her own, and really it was just a pleasure to train for someone with such a depth of knowledge for horses generally, and with such a good sense of humour.”

Six years ago in Newmarket a statue was unveiled, between the Rowley Mile racecourse and the High Street, to mark the Queen's 90th birthday. It depicts her standing alongside a mare and foal and is an appropriate marker in a town which is not just a training centre but also home to a number of major stud farms as well as the headquarters of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, of which the Queen was patron since 1953.

There, on Friday, a constant stream of mourners appeared to place flowers at the foot of the bronze, heads bowed for a while in quiet reflection, or chatting to strangers united in common grief. The local primary school left a touching tribute which read in part, “We remember with great fondness the connection the Queen had with Newmarket and her love of horses.”

And indeed, her trainers in the town–Sir Michael Stoute, William Haggas, John and Thady Gosden, and Michael Bell–will miss her annual spring visit to see her horses exercising on the Heath. Beyond Newmarket, the Queen's patronage of British stables ran to Roger and Harry Charlton, Andrew Balding, Richard Hannon, Richard Hughes, Nicky Henderson, Charlie Longsdon, and her newest recruit, Clive Cox, who trained her final winner on Tuesday.

But the outpouring of tributes at the news of the Queen's death came from way beyond these shores. Claiborne Farm posted photographs on social media showing the Queen inspecting Round Table and Mr. Prospector on a visit to Kentucky–those two great names alone being indicative of the longevity of her interest. In the racing world, Olivier Delloye, CEO of France Galop, perhaps summed it up best when saying, “For all racing lovers she was our Queen too.”

Indeed she was. The Queen loved racing, and racing loved the Queen.

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The reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was not merely the longest in British history, but was also one of the most successful. Leading by example, she steered her country through the momentous changes of the past seven decades. She ascended the throne as the sun was setting on the British Empire and it was thanks to the universal affection and respect which she came to command that the Commonwealth, with all the international goodwill which it has generated and continues to generate, was able to be established. Society is now almost unrecognisable from the world of the 1950s but the monarchy remains; with a lesser figure on the throne during the past 70 turbulent years, it is far from certain that that would be the case. All the while, Queen Elizabeth II's unshakable dedication to her country and to her duty went hand in hand with her love of racing, and both were hugely enriched by her commitment.

The tradition of the British monarch racing horses goes back centuries. In the 17^th century the Stuart kings made Newmarket the centre of the sport in Great Britain, which made it the centre of the racing world, a position which it holds to this day. Ascot racecourse owes its existence to the enthusiasm of its founder Queen Anne. While Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901, had no interest in the sport, her eldest son, the future King Edward VII, more than made up for that, owning two Derby winners while still Prince of Wales and becoming the perfect sporting king after his accession to the throne. The royal studs and royal string flourished under his stewardship, as they did under Queen Elizabeth II's grandfather King George V and her father King George VI.

King George VI owned his final Classic winner when his home-bred Hyperion filly Hypericum (GB) won the 1,000 Guineas in 1946. Following her father's death on February 6, 1952, Queen Elizabeth II, at the age of just 26, was crowned on June 2, 1953 and Coronation Week perfectly summed up the twin threads of kingdom and sport which ran through her life. Four days after the Coronation, her Hyperion colt Aureole (GB), bred by her father, finished second in the Derby behind Pinza (GB) (Chanteur {Fr}), the latter ridden by Gordon Richards, the doyen of champion jockeys who had received a knighthood in the Coronation honours. Later in the month Queen Elizabeth II owned the first of her many Royal Ascot winners when Choirboy (GB) (Hyperion {GB}) won the Royal Hunt Cup, and during the week she invested the long-standing royal trainer Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort as a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.

Aureole, who had won the Acomb Stakes at York as a two-year-old, improved further from three to four and in 1954 he proved himself a champion with three big wins culminating in his triumph in the race named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's parents, the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. He had previously won the Coronation Cup at Epsom and the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, and his success proved instrumental in Her Majesty ending the season as champion owner for the first time, an achievement which she repeated three years later.

Ever since the glory days of Aureole (who later became a very successful stallion at Wolferton Stud, being crowned Champion Sire of Great Britain and Ireland in both 1960 and '61) the Queen's staunch, successful and whole-hearted patronage has ensured that racing's tag of the Sport of Kings has remained a perfect byline. She owned her first Classic winner when the Noel Murless-trained Carozza (GB) (Dante {GB}), a filly whom she leased from the National Stud, won the Oaks under a 21-year-old Lester Piggott in 1957.  Further Classic glory followed when Pall Mall (GB) (Palestine {GB}) won the 2,000 Guineas in 1958, fittingly ridden by Doug Smith who had guided Hypericum to glory up the Rowley Mile in the same royal livery 12 years previously.

The golden days continued to come. Highclere (GB) (Queen's Hussar {GB}), trained by Major Dick Hern and ridden by Joe Mercer, emulated her grand-dam Hypericum by winning the 1,000 Guineas in 1974 before completing a glorious European Classic double by galloping to victory in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly, hours after Her Majesty and her entourage had been driven up the course before racing in a French welcome fit for a queen. Three years later Hern provided a perfectly timed triumph when Dunfermline (GB) (Royal Palace {GB}) won the Oaks at Epsom on the day that the nation celebrated Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee. Later that season Dunfermline doubled her Classic haul when outstaying Alleged (Hoist The Flag) in the St Leger, a performance whose merit was confirmed when Alleged won the next two runnings of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Hopes were high for a similarly special celebration 34 years later when Carlton House (Street Cry {Ire}), who had been given to Her Majesty as a yearling by Sheikh Mohammed, went off favourite for the Derby as the celebrations for the Queen's 85^th birthday celebrations loomed.  Unfortunately he could only finish a close third. An even greater gift turned out to have been Estimate (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}), a present from HH Aga Khan IV. Her victory in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2013 made Queen Elizabeth II the first monarch to own the winner of the greatest race of the greatest race-meeting, a result which gave pleasure to millions.

Royal Ascot was always a fixture in the Queen's calendar, a meeting which she adored. The pleasure which she savoured there each year was exceeded only by the esteem which the sport gained from her presence and participation.  That Gold Cup triumph must have given her boundless joy, but two other runnings of the great race, each won by one of her closest racing friends, must have given her almost equal pleasure. In 1974 the Duke of Norfolk, for many years Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot, won it with his John Dunlop-trained home-bred Ragstone (GB) (Ragusa {Ire}); nine years later the prize went to the Dick Hern-trained Little Wolf (GB) (Grundy {GB}), bred and raced by her long-time racing manager Lord Porchester (later the 7^th Earl of Carnarvon).

One particular Royal Ascot memory shines out brightly. The unbeaten Australian champion sprinter Black Caviar (Aus) (Bel Espirt {Aus}) overcame a mountain of obstacles to record a famous victory in the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes in 2012. After the race, Her Majesty, whose respect and admiration for a great horse remained as pure as it had been when she was a young girl with her grandfather King George V entrancing her with his account of the victory of his home-bred filly Scuttle (GB) in the 1,000 Guineas, made sure that she reached the unsaddling enclosure in time to ask Black Caviar's connections for permission to make the acquaintance of their wonderful mare. Royal Ascot may be about pageantry, style and social cachet but, as Queen Elizabeth II reminded us on that unforgettable day, it is, always has been, and always will be primarily about great horses. And few have ever revered great horses over as extended a period as Her Majesty did.

Queen Elizabeth II's racing life and her royal duties fitted together perfectly.  Her love of and deep understanding of the sport tied in particularly well with her royal duties overseas, when days at the races were included where possible in official tours. Aside from the pleasure which such trips gave to Her Majesty, the boundary-crossing passion for the sport did much to foster friendly relations between the Queen and her hosts. Race-clubs worldwide were delighted to find a shared love of the sport with the British monarch, invariably strengthening ties between the nations.

The Queen's Plate (inaugurated in 1860 at the now-defunct Carleton racecourse in Toronto by permission of Queen Victoria) has retained its place as Canada's premier Classic and one of the world's great races, despite the anachronism of being restricted to Canadian-bred horses. Every Queen's Plate day at Woodbine is special, but none more so than when Queen Elizabeth II was the guest of honour, as she was in 1959 for the 100^th running of the great race. That year's winner was the Windfields Farm home-bred New Providence (Bull Page) who went on to enjoy a very good stud career. In retrospect, Her Majesty must have wished she had been there five years later when another Windfields home-bred won the race, following up his Kentucky Derby victory: Northern Dancer (Nearctic). Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh attended three subsequent Queen's Plates, in 1973, 1997 and 2010.

Queen Elizabeth II's father King George VI had been the first reigning British monarch to attend the Queen's Plate when he and Her Majesty's mother Queen Elizabeth had seen Archworth (Worthmore) win in 1939, and Queen Elizabeth, as the Queen Mother, attended the race-day a further six times.  She struck particularly lucky as regards the quality of the winner in 1962 when the home-bred Windfields filly Flaming Page (Bull Page) won the great race.  Flaming Page subsequently secured everlasting fame thanks to her mating in 1966 with Northern Dancer, a union which, of course, produced Nijinsky.

For obvious reasons, the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club dropped the 'Royal' from its name when the UK's lease on the territory expired in 1997, but the HKJC has continued to run the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (currently sponsored by Audemars Piguet) every April. This race was first run at Happy Valley in 1975 when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh went to the races on their first visit to Hong Kong. It was subsequently relocated to Sha Tin after that showpiece racecourse's creation on land reclaimed from the sea.

Major races paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II have flourished around the globe. Keeneland inaugurated the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (which now carries Grade 1 status) when Her Majesty visited in 1984. Nine years later the Queen paid what proved to have been her only state visit to Japan, which triggered the subsequent inauguration of the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup at Kyoto, another race which now carries Grade 1 status.  In France, a royal visit in 1972 had prompted the running of La Coupe de Sa Majeste la Reine Elizabeth at Longchamp, the race subsequently being transferred to Chantilly in honour of Highclere's victory there and renamed the G2 Prix Sandringham. In Australia, the G3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a highlight of the final day of the VRC Carnival at Flemington every spring in Victoria; while the crown jewel of the Championships at Royal Randwick every autumn in New South Wales is the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. It was fitting that Carlton House was able to carry the royal silks honourably in the race in 2014 after his transferral from Sir Michael Stoute's string in Newmarket to Gai Waterhouse's stable in Sydney.

Arguably the most special royal race took place as a one-off on a late-autumn day in the Australian capital Canberra (which in the normal course of events never stages top-class racing) to celebrate Australia's bicentenary in 1988, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. It worked out wonderfully well when this special race turned into a stirring duel between two terrific horses, the champion older horse Bonecrusher (NZ) (Pag-Asa {Aus}) and the champion three-year-old Beau Zam (NZ) (Zamazaan {Fr}) in a race which also featured the recent G1 VRC Australian Cup hero Dandy Andy (NZ) (Three Legs {GB}). Beau Zam came off best at the end of an epic horse-race, a result which must have given Her Majesty particular pleasure as her daughter Princess Anne had ridden him at trackwork at Randwick one morning a few weeks previously, shortly before his victory in the AJC Derby.

Les Carlyon summed up the spirit of the occasion perfectly in his report in the Age newspaper: “The Queen Elizabeth, as good a race as you will see, was a rebuff to those who think the Crown has trained off, that the royalty bit, rather like straight-backed jockeys, is out of time and place. Consider what the royal presence did yesterday. Here we were in Canberra, which is to high-class racing what Alice Springs is to international sculling. And on Sunday, too.  Here were three of the best horses in the land. Collectively, they had won $4 million. They were going around for just $65,000 to the winner. What brought them? The Queen. Simple as that.”

Beau Zam's trainer Bart Cummings subsequently gave a typically droll account of his presentation to Her Majesty in the winner's enclosure: “She's a very gracious lady. She obviously takes racing very seriously. She knows her pedigrees. She said it was a most exciting race. She said he is a lovely-looking colt. Can't say any more. She gave me a wink.”

No royal tour, though, has seen the Queen's love of the horse and the sport complementing her official duties more perfectly than was the case during her ground-breaking state visit to Ireland in May 2011.  This was the first visit by the British monarch to what is now the Republic of Ireland for 100 years, the last previous one having been made by her grandfather King George V in 1911.  That, of course, was when Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom, which changed after 700 years of (often brutal) British occupation when the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on December,f 1921 brought the Irish War of Independence to an end.  For most of the remainder of the 20^th century, it seemed inconceivable that a British monarch would be rash enough to visit the Republic of Ireland in the foreseeable future.  Time, though, is a great healer, but what proved the crucial factor in this particular healing process was the worldwide respect which the irreproachable conduct of Queen Elizabeth II had fostered over the previous decades.  Furthermore, what particularly helped to pave the way for her historic visit was her legendary love of the horse and of the turf, a passion which could only endear her to the hearts of that particular nation.

Even people with no misgivings about the wisdom of a British monarch visiting Ireland could not have predicted what a tremendous success the tour would prove to be. The tone was set on the first day when she and the Irish President Mary McAleese laid wreaths together in the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin and the Queen bowed to honour those who had died for Irish independence. On the second day she went even further to lay the ghosts of the past to rest and to make atonement for a particularly black chapter in British history when she visited Croke Park, where on 'Bloody Sunday', November 21, 1920, British machine guns had been fired on players and spectators at a Gaelic football match, killing 14 Irish civilians, including two children, and wounding at least 60 more. Although some officials of the Gaelic Athletic Association declined to attend Her Majesty's visit to Croke Park, she was greeted there by the President of the GAA Christy Cooney with the words, “Your Majesty, on behalf of the members of the Gaelic Athletic Association throughout Ireland and across the world, I am delighted to welcome you to our headquarters.”  

The following day Her Majesty visited the Irish National Stud, where she was shown around by the Chief Executive John Osborne, and Gilltown Stud, where she had lunch as the guest of HH Aga Khan IV and his family. On the fourth and final day she headed south-west to Cork via the Rock of Cashel, where the Sinn Fein Mayor of Cashel, Michael Browne, welcomed her and shook her hand, a particularly notable event as Sinn Fein had refused to take part in the official reception for her in Dublin. One consequence of this welcome was that the following month it was announced that Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, would do the same on her next visit to the province. From Cashel she visited Coolmore Stud, where John Magnier welcomed her and introduced her to Galileo (Ire), much to her evident delight.

In four days, Queen Elizabeth II, as both Head of State and horse-lover, did more to nurture Anglo-Irish friendship than could previously ever have been imagined possible. That summed up her reign perfectly. The United Kingdom has been very fortunate to have had such a special person as its monarch for 70 years, and racing has been very fortunate to have enjoyed the patronage of the greatest supporter it has ever known.

Queen Elizabeth II, born in London, England, April 21, 1926; died at Balmoral, Scotland, September 8, 2022

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This prestigious contest is run over the Derby course for 4-year-olds and upwards and serves as the natural target for the previous year's Derby winner. Initially known as the Epsom Gold Cup, it was re-named the Coronation Cup in 1902 to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II's great-grandfather King Edward VII. It thus celebrates the life-long love of racing of King Edward VII, who was an enthusiastic and very successful owner as both Prince of Wales and monarch. His passion was also honoured (posthumously) when the Ascot Derby was re-named the King Edward VII S. in 1926.

Many of Britain's monarchs have loved the Sport of Kings over the centuries, but Queen Elizabeth II has been the one whose passion for the sport has at least matched that of King Edward VII. It is fitting, therefore, that while Aureole's racing career is best remembered for his valiant effort to provide a royal victory in what is often popularly referred to as the Coronation Derby, his best win came 52 weeks later when he carried the royal colours to victory in the Coronation Cup, thus helping his sire Hyperion (GB) to his sixth and final sires' championship.

Aureole went on to enjoy a splendid stud career, most notably topping the sires' table in both 1960 and '61, in which seasons his best winners were Derby hero St Paddy (GB) and St Leger winner Aurelius (GB), respectively. He clearly ranks as one of the most distinguished horses to win the Coronation Cup during its 120-year history, but such is the class of the race's roll of honour that he certainly can't be regarded as the greatest.

The winners of the Epsom Gold Cup had included the mighty St Simon (GB), arguably the greatest horse to race during the 19th century. It didn't take long for the Coronation Cup to become established as a race won by horses of the highest order.

The first Coronation Cup to be won by a horse whom we can describe as a great was the third one, in 1904. The winner that year was Zinfandel (GB) who had been ruled out of the Classics in 1903 when the death of his owner Colonel McCalmont had rendered his engagements void. He was left to prove his class elsewhere, which he did repeatedly at Ascot, where he won the Gold Cup, the Gold Vase and the Alexandra Plate (now Queen Alexandra S.). His finest hour, though, came at Epsom where he led home a trifecta of superstars in the 1904 Coronation Cup, the minor placings being filled by Sceptre (GB) and Rock Sand (GB), winners between them of seven British Classics.

An even greater horse won the next two Coronation Cups because in both 1905 and '06 the prize was taken by Pretty Polly (Ire). Winner of the Fillies' Triple Crown in 1904, Pretty Polly ultimately established a record of 22 wins and two second places from 24 starts and is considered by many to have been both the greatest filly of the 20th century and the most influential broodmare too. Her descendants have included Brigadier Gerard (GB) and the Derby winners St Paddy (GB), Psidium (Ire) and Workforce (GB) as well as the influential sires Donatello II (Ity), Nearctic (Can), Vienna (GB), Northern Taste (Can) and Cape Cross (Ire), the latter, of course, responsible for the superb Derby winners Sea The Stars (Ire) and Golden Horn (GB).

Great winners of the Coronation Cup kept coming. Pretty Polly's two wins were followed by another double, the admirable The White Knight (Ire) scoring in both 1907 and '08.  In each year he went to Ascot after Epsom and won the Gold Cup there. An even more popular horse took the Coronation Cup in 1909 when the prize went to the evergreen 8-year-old Dean Swift (GB). Few top-class horses have been less wearied by age than Dean Swift, who ran in Epsom's City and Suburban H. eight years running (winning it twice and registering four minor placings) and ultimately brought the house down at Goodwood in 1911 by winning the Chesterfield Cup at the age of 10.

America's champion 2-year-old of 1908, Sir Martin (Ogden {GB}) was sent to England in 1909 to try to win the Derby. This principal aim was not achieved as in a rough race he and Bayardo, who had been Britain's champion juvenile, were the principal sufferers in a melee at Tattenham Corner. Bayardo (GB) forfeited merely his chance, while Sir Martin lost his rider.  Both horses subsequently put this debacle behind them, Bayardo landing a string of great wins highlighted by his victory in the 1910 Gold Cup at Ascot and Sir Martin winning the 1910 Coronation Cup.

The race was won in 1911 by Bayardo's lesser half-brother Lemburg (GB) who thus became the first horse to augment victory in the Derby by taking the following year's Coronation Cup. At least equally distinguished was the 1913 winner Prince Palatine (GB) whose other victories included the 1911 St Leger as well as two Ascot Gold Cups, an Eclipse S., a Jockey Club S. and a Doncaster Cup. Thanks largely to his grandson Princequillo (GB) (Rose Prince {GB}), Prince Palatine ultimately went on to feature in the pedigrees of some of the greatest horses of the 20th century.

The most notable horses to win the Coronation Cup during the First World War were the 1914 St Leger winner Black Jester (GB) and the 1915 Derby winner Pommern (GB). The tradition of Classic winners taking the race as 4-year-olds continued through the inter-war years, most notably with horses of the calibre of Solario (GB), Coronach (GB) and Windsor Lad (GB). The luckless Dastur (Ire), who finished second in all three legs of the Triple Crown in 1932 as well as winning the King Edward VII S., Irish Derby and Sussex S., was another.

The most remarkable Classic hero of that period to win the Coronation Cup as a 4-year-old was Reigh Count (Sunreigh {GB}), the 1928 Kentucky Derby winner who was sent to England in 1929 to try to prove himself the best horse in the world. He went some way towards doing that by winning the Coronation Cup before finishing second in the Gold Cup at Ascot, after which his owner Fannie Hertz reportedly turned down an unprecedented offer of $1,000,000. Mrs. Hertz had reason to be thankful for her decision when, standing him at Stoner Creek Stud near Paris, Kentucky, he sired her homebred colt Count Fleet, winner of the US Triple Crown in 1943 before, based at Stoner Creek, becoming North America's Champion Sire of 1951 and Champion Broodmare Sire of 1963.

French horses dominated many of Britain's biggest races in the post-war years, with the Coronation Cup's roll of honour illustrating this perfectly. In the seven years 1946 to 1952 inclusive, French trainers supplied six of the winners, headed by the 1951 hero Tantieme (Fr) who, trained by Francois Mathet, had won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe eight months previously and would go on to take France's greatest race for a second time that autumn. The only non-French winner in this period was Beau Sabreur (Ire) who won the race as a 4-year-old in 1949. Trained at the Curragh by Cecil Brabazon, he had won the Irish 2000 Guineas and Irish St Leger the previous year but had been denied the chance to land his country's Triple Crown when he had had to miss the Irish Derby.

An even better Irish-trained horse took the Coronation Cup nine years later when Ballymoss (GB) won the race as part of a stellar campaign in which he consolidated the reputation which Vincent O'Brien was starting to earn as Europe's pre-eminent big-race specialist. Runner-up in the Derby in 1957 before winning the St Leger, Ballymoss dominated Europe's weight-for-age ranks in 1958 by reeling off a sparkling four-timer consisting of the Coronation Cup, Eclipse S., King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Lester Piggott subsequently became O'Brien's most frequent partner in glory but Scobie Breasley was Ballymoss's jockey that year. Piggott, though, rode the winners of the next three Coronation Cups. In 1959 he guided the Harry Wragg-trained Nagami to victory before scoring in 1960 and '61 on a mare who takes her place alongside Pretty Polly in the highest tier of the pantheon: the Noel Murless-trained Petite Etoile (GB). The sublimely-talented great-great-granddaughter of 'The Flying Filly' Mumtaz Mahal (GB) carried Prince Aly Khan's silks to victory in 1961 but raced for his father HH Aga Khan III 12 months later, subsequent to the tragedy of the Prince's fatal car crash. It was hard for Petite Etoile to become a notable influence in pedigrees as she only had one daughter, the Habitat filly Zahra (Ire), but she ranks as the fifth dam of HH Aga Khan IV's great filly Zarkava (Ire).

Petite Etoile, like Pretty Polly before her, was a hard act to follow, but the Coronation Cup kept producing winners worthy of such great race. In fact, a racemare of similar charisma won the race later that decade. The 11th Duke of Devonshire's hugely popular Park Top (GB) was actually unlucky not to become the race's fourth dual winner, scoring easily in 1969 before an over-confident ride by Lester Piggott saw her lose out to the Noel Murless-trained Caliban (GB) the following year.

The stallion boom which began to build momentum in the late 1970s has been a significant factor in weakening the ranks of Europe's high-class older horses. However, such is the Coronation Cup's status that its roll of honour remains rock-solid. Outstanding horses were winning it through the '60s and '70s, and outstanding horses are still winning it in the 21st century. It was and still is the obvious target for the previous year's Classic stars.

The Derby winners Relko (Fr), Charlottown (GB), Royal Palace (GB), Mill Reef and Roberto all won the Coronation Cup. So did the Oaks winners Lupe (GB) and Time Charter (Ire), and the St Leger winners Bustino (GB), Crow (Fr), Silver Patriarch (GB), Mutafaweq and Scorpion (Ire). Others in the modern era to have won European Classics before taking the Coronation Cup have included Exceller, Triptych (the iron mare who won it in both 1987 and '88), In The Groove (GB), Soldier Of Fortune (Ire) and Fame And Glory (Ire).

A more recent development has been a Coronation Cup/ Breeders' Cup Turf double. This has been completed by In The Wings (GB), Daylami (Ire), Shirocco (Ger), St Nicholas Abbey (Ire), and Highland Reel (Ire); while Swain (Ire) and Singspiel (Ire) were arguably unlucky not to do so.

Warrsan (Ire) became the fifth horse to win the Coronation Cup twice when scoring in 2003 and '04 but paradoxically doesn't truly rank as one of the greats to have taken the race.  The horse who won it the next year does, though. Yeats (Ire) had been favourite for the Derby in 2004 before going amiss but bounced back to take the Coronation Cup in 2005. He then won the Gold Cup at Ascot in each of the next four seasons.

The race's only triple winner, the ill-fated St Nicholas Abbey (Ire) who won it in 2011, '12 and '13, definitely deserves his place in any list of outstanding racehorses, as do the even more recent winners Cirrus Des Aigles (Fr), Postponed (Ire), Highland Reel, and the 2020 Cartier Horse of the Year Ghaiyyath (Ire) who won the race at Newmarket during that COVID-affected season, breaking the track record and leading home the previous year's Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) and the redoubtable Stradivarius (Ire). Last year's Cazoo Derby winner Adayar (Ire) remains in training in 2022 and the Coronation Cup, sponsored this year by Dahlbury, was the automatic choice for his resumption, although sadly a setback means that he won't be in the field this week.

Even in Adayar's absence, this year's Coronation Cup will still be a notable race whose winner will have earned his place in history. The winning jockey too will rank alongside some of the best we have ever seen, although one of them is likely to reign supreme for all time.  Lester Piggott, the true master of Epsom, holds a record for Derby wins (nine) which may well stand forever. His record total of Coronation Cup winners is the same, starting when, aged 17, he won on the quirky 5-year-old Zucchero (Ire) in 1953 and ending 30 years later when he guided Be My Native, trained by his brother-in-law Robert Armstrong, to victory.

With a history thus stuffed with many of racing's most legendary names, equine and human, the Coronation Cup is a perfect part of the jubilee celebrations of a great racing monarch.

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Discover Newmarket is also providing the Newmarket's Racing Royalty Tour, which explores the town's connections with the monarchy for over 350 years, since Charles II's horse won the very first recorded horse race in history. A guided tour of Palace House is also included.

Royal Yard Tours cost £165 per person and are available May 31 (Somerville Lodge), July 1 (Fitzroy House), and a date to be announced (Clarehaven).

The Newmarket Racing Royalty Tour is offered at £40 per person and is available May 7, June 20, Sept. 3 and Oct. 14, or as a private tour for a £50 supplement.

For more information, visit https://discovernewmarket.co.uk.

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The Derby meeting on June 3 and 4 falls within an extended bank holiday weekend which will feature countrywide celebrations to mark the Queen's 70th anniversary on the throne. Epsom Downs Racecourse will further honour the occasion by renaming the Queen's Stand as The Queen Elizabeth II Stand.

The Derby is the only one of the five British Classics which has not been won by The Queen. In 1977, the year of her Silver Jubilee, she won the Oaks and the St Leger with Dunfermline (GB) (Royal Palace {GB}). That filly's jockey Willie Carson, now 79 and himself a Classic-winning breeder, will be among the guard of honour on Derby day. 

He said, “[The Queen] is the patron of racing. Without her we would be a little bit lost, because her patronage is a very valuable thing.

“It's not just the horseracing she enjoys, she enjoys the breeding side of it. She likes to know from trainers how the horse is behaving and its attitude, its temperament. She wants to know those things. That's what she's really interested in. The winning post is the end result and she enjoys that, of course, but she enjoys everything before you get to the winning post. That gives her the most pleasure.”

The Queen last had a runner in the Derby in 2011 when Carlton House finished third to Pour Moi (Ire). She has three homebreds remaining among the entries for this year's race–the G3 Solario S. winner Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), last week's Newmarket winner Educator (GB) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), and General Idea (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). A reigning monarch has won the Derby only once, when Minoru (Ire) triumphed in 1909 for King Edward VII.

Phil White, London regional director of The Jockey Club, said, “We are absolutely delighted that this year's Cazoo Derby will be a part of the official Platinum Jubilee celebrations and excited and proud to be able to take the opportunity to thank Her Majesty The Queen for her enormous contribution to horseracing over many, many years.”

He continued, “We know that The Queen intends to be with us on the day and to mark her arrival at the racecourse we will form a guard of honour of around 40 retired and current jockeys all dressed in Her Majesty's silks. We're also inviting members of the local community and some local charities to support the guard of honour as flag-bearers.

“Derby Day always has that spectacular carnival atmosphere and we're looking forward to a display from the Red Devils and a military band's performance of the National Anthem which will all add to a wonderful occasion.”

Included among the guard of honour will be Derby-winning jockeys Ryan Moore, Frankie Dettori and John Reid, as well as Hayley Turner, who has ridden regularly in the Queen's silks.

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John Gosden said, “They are all fine. Stradivarius will go to York. Both of them will be pointing towards York. Stradivarius for the Yorkshire Cup and Reach For The Moon to the Dante. They are going all right at this stage. It is early days.”

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