Phil White, London Regional Director for Jockey Club Racecourses, said, “With the Cazoo Derby forming part of the official celebrations for The Queen's Platinum Jubilee and taking place over the special Bank Holiday Weekend, the demand to be at Epsom Downs has been absolutely phenomenal and we are now sold out in all paid enclosures on Derby Day.”

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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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The British Embassy in Ireland has worked in partnership with Leopardstown Racecourse, the British Irish Chamber of Commerce and Kmend to revive the race which was initially run in 1911 following the presentation of a specially commissioned trophy by King George V at Leopardstown during his visit to Ireland. The race was first reinstated as a 1m4f listed contest for 3-year-olds in 2013, replacing the Nijinsky S.

Paul Johnston, the British Ambassador to Ireland, said, “The King George V Cup epitomises the deep and enduring UK-Ireland connections in horse racing and equestrianism. The shared passion for horses and racing between Ireland and the UK has been a feature of many Royal visits to Ireland over the years – from King George V's attendance at Leopardstown in 1911, through Her Majesty The Queen's visit to the National Stud in 2011 and HRH the Duchess of Cornwall's visit to Henry de Bromhead's stables and meeting with Rachael Blackmore this year. It's wonderful to see the King George V Cup being run again in Leopardstown for the first time since the pandemic, and particularly fitting on the day that the UK begins celebrating Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee.” 

 In Japan, the Jubilee is also being commemorated via a number of racing events. The Japan Racing Association (JRA) has announced that the G3 Epsom Cup, run on June 12, and the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Nov. 13 will each carry Platinum Jubilee in their title. On the day of each race the JRA will also be hosting activities relating to the United Kingdom, including a Derby-themed talk show. 

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Simon Durrant, General Manager of Epsom Downs Racecourse, said, “As part of the official celebrations for The Queen's Platinum Jubilee, we felt that it was important to highlight Her Majesty's passion both for racing and the horse in general.

“Over the 70 years of her reign, The Queen's interest extends far beyond what happens on the track and we feel it is important that this is both recognised and celebrated.

“The Racing Showcase on The Hill will enable the public to engage with and learn more about many aspects of racing and the wider equine world. I am delighted that so many organisations have agreed to participate and hopefully their efforts to educate, inform and inspire will show just what a fantastic industry and sport we work in.”

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Romantic Proposal showed blistering speed in winning the G1 Flying Five S. at the Curragh last season and, despite treating the Listed Woodlands S. at Naas like a piece of work on her comeback, the star sprinter will not run again before the royal meeting and will be kept fresh by Lynam.

“We were delighted with her comeback and decided to leave it at that with her because we're trying to keep her fresh for Royal Ascot,” Lynam told TDN Europe on Tuesday. 

“She has entries in the King's Stand and the Platinum Jubilee and we're going to bring her over there fresh. We'll run her on the Tuesday, all going well, and then we'll see how she recovers. If we're happy with her, she will take her chance on the Saturday as well.”

Lynam added, “If you mind them when they are young, they can pay you back in spades when they get older, but that's easy for me to say as I have the owners who will let me do that. She was never going to be a 2-year-old and has developed from being a premier handicapper to making the big jump last year at five. 

“You could say that she has improved again judging by that Naas performance as, while it probably wasn't the strongest listed race ever run, she was very impressive.”

Romantic Proposal can be backed at 10-1 for the King's Stand while odds of 16-1 are available for the Platinum Jubilee. According to Lynam, the King's Stand is the preferred target for the mare, who will only back up if her main assignment goes to plan. 

He explained, “I'm not saying she can do the double but it's tempting. I was going to do it before with Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) but I didn't because he wasn't equally as good over six furlongs as he was over five. We won't back her up unless we're happy with her.”

Lynam added, “The King's Stand is the preferred target of the two and it's shaping up to be a real international race. Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) was very impressive in America recently so if he shows that sort of form we could be in trouble as he would be difficult to beat. 

“Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}) also has to be respected, as does any Australian sprinter, given the history of Choisir, Starspangledbanner (Aus) and all the rest of them. The Queen looks like she has a good one [King's Lynn (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire})] and Ireland will be well-represented with A Case Of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) so it looks a top race.”

Should Romantic Proposal shine on the biggest of stages, she would once again highlight the prowess of Lynam's daughter Amy, who pinhooked the Clipper Logistics-owned star as a foal. 

Amy was also responsible for sourcing Soffia (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), who won a Group 2 for her father, and plans on capitalising on the recent run of success by making a go of it as a bloodstock agent.

She explained, “I'm over the moon with what Romantic Proposal has done. From her and Soffia before that, I am hoping to pick up some orders for the yearling sales. I always thought that being a bloodstock agent would be a great job but didn't know if I'd be any good at it. Thanks to the two of them, I might try and give it a go.”

Lynam added, “I bought a brother to Mums Tipple (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) at the November Foal Sale at Goffs last year and the plan is to pinhook him. He's very nice and is the only one I have at the moment but I'd like to try and fill a few orders if I can. I wanted to prove that I was good enough to do it first before I started spending people's money.”

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Phil White, London Regional Director at The Jockey Club, said, “We're delighted that Retraining of Racehorses will be bringing some of Her Majesty's former racehorses to parade on Cazoo Derby Day.

“We know The Queen is incredibly fond of all of her horses, whether they are racing or involved in other disciplines, so this will be a great way to combine her passion for the Thoroughbred with a chance to educate people about the work RoR do and the lives racehorses live once their careers on the track have come to an end.”

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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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Gosden, who trains with his son Thady, told ITV Racing, “He's coming back, but it's a slow process and whether it all comes too soon, we'll know more in three weeks really. The key thing is by the middle of May he is running in a trial and time will be of the essence.

“At the moment he's moving along well, but you know, when you get an interruption like that and he went back home, then came back to us, it's not the ideal flow through the autumn, winter and spring, that's for certain.”

Reflecting on the potential of fielding a Derby runner for The Queen during her Platinum Jubilee year, Gosden added, “You do what's right by the horse and that is what we will do no matter what anyone thinks, and that is what the owner would want.”

The Queen has won every British Classic barring the Blue Riband.

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The Queen's Green Canopy, which marks her Platinum Jubilee, invites people from across the UK to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”. A total of 23 British racecourses have confirmed their participation, with the official tree-planting season taking place between October and March, and then beginning again in October through to the end of the Jubilee year.

Ascot Racecourse and the Crown Estate jointly planted 70 oak trees adjacent to the Royal Procession route along Duke's Lane in Windsor Great Park on Tuesday. Each tree will be dedicated to one of 70 local schools on May 10th, one for each year of Her Majesty's reign.

Her Majesty's Representative and Chairman at Ascot, Sir Francis Brooke, Bt, said of the project and the racing industry's contribution, “It is fantastic that the racing family has come together in such numbers to be part of this very worthwhile initiative. The last of our 70 trees were planted this morning, at a location in Windsor Great Park on the route of the Royal Procession. We are much looking forward to welcoming the schools in May for what will be a very special day.”

The Jockey Club will be planting more than 500 trees this year as part of the project across their 15 racecourses and three training grounds. Cheltenham, Epsom Downs, Aintree and Sandown Park are amongst the courses to be planting trees to commemorate the event across The Jockey Club's sites, who have been working with local experts to ensure the trees to be planted are both local and sustainable with the individual climates of each racecourse or location.

The Jockey Club's Chief Executive, Nevin Truesdale said, “We are thrilled to be playing our part in The Queen's Green Canopy initiative to mark the Platinum Jubilee of our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen.

“We will be planting trees right across our racecourses and training grounds and our teams have been working hard to ensure the projects we are undertaking will enhance their surroundings for years to come.

“In doing so we hope they will reflect the extraordinary and long-lasting contribution The Queen has made to our sport and the country more widely.”

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