Johnson is seeking compensatory and exemplary damages as well as equitable relief. The suit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.

The allegations revolve around a show that aired on Nov. 9, 2022, which was the eighth episode of Season Five of 'The Crown'. The episode includes the storyline of how and when Queen Elizabeth II became interested in horse racing. On the show, she is shown watching races broadcast on satellite television. According to the lawsuit, the broadcast of the races includes Johnson's voice and his call of the 1995 GI Travers S. as well as other examples where Johnson's voice is used.

“Dave Johnson's actual voice, which is synonymous with horse racing in the United States at that period of time, is being used and is clearly audible and immediately recognizable,” the suit charges.

“Mr. Johnson is very proud of his body of work as the voice of American horse racing and as such has an interest in the unauthorized use of same without his permission,” said Johnson's lawyer, Drew Mollica. “His historic call of the 1995 Travers played an important role in Episode 8 of 'The Crown' during Season 5 and was used without his permission and he seeks compensation. The complaint speaks for itself.”

Johnson has been careful to protect his brand and has sued others who have used his catchphrase “And Down the Stretch They Come,” which he has trademarked, without his authorization. In all cases, whenever Johnson has prevailed in a lawsuit he has donated his compensation to a racing related charity. Beneficiaries of Johnson's donations have included New York's Backstretch Employee Service Team, Churchill Downs' Backside Learning Center and various scholarships including the University of Arizona's Racetrack Industry Program and Southern Illinois University, as well as donations he has made to benefit disabled jockeys.

According to Netflix's own numbers. 'The Crown's' “fifth season was viewed for 107.39 million hours following its premier” and Episode Eight had a production cost of approximately $13 million. According to the complaint, in 2022 Netflix Entities garnered a total revenue from its video streaming platform that amounted to approximately $31.6 billion and that “a substantial portion of that revenue is attributable to the sale, rental, and streaming success of 'The Crown', including Season Five, Episode Eight.”

“As a proximate result of All Defendants acts and/or omissions, All Defendants, individually, collectively and acting on concert, have invaded Dave Johnson's statutory right to privacy, misappropriated his persona and voice, and have profited at Dave Johnson's expense…” the lawsuit charges.

Johnson called the GI Kentucky Derby for ABC Sports from 1978 to 1980 and from 1987 to 2000. He called the GI Preakness S. and the GI Belmont S. from 1987 to 2000. He also served as the head announcer at, among others, the NYRA tracks, the Meadowlands, Santa Anita Park and Hialeah Park. He is currently the co-host of the “Down the Stretch” show on Sirius XM radio.

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Crowning his achievements and influence on the racing landscape is the venerable Frankel (GB), flawless in his career and crowned Champion sire in 2021, as well as globetrotting wondermare, Enable (GB). Juddmonte-owned horses have won 76 races thus far in 2023 with Group or Grade I wins from Elite Power, Whitebeam (GB), Westover (GB), Chaldean (GB), and Set Piece (GB).

“Prince Khalid was an owner-breeder like no other, with his numerous cherished champions, including perhaps the greatest thoroughbred of them all in Frankel. Through his racing and breeding operation, Juddmonte, the Prince has left a legacy which, now under the direction of his sons, Prince Fahad, Prince Saud and Prince Ahmed, continues to have a massive influence on the sport globally, at the same time as giving great pleasure and entertainment to his family,” said Douglas Erskine Crum, Chief Executive of Juddmonte.

“Prince Khalid would have been very pleased to be recognised by the British horse racing industry in this way and, on behalf of his whole family, I thank British racing and the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame for this exceptional accolade.”

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“The Plate is one of the most celebrated events in horse racing, and we're proud to celebrate its history while starting a new chapter under the banner of The King's Plate,” said Jim Lawson, Woodbine Entertainment's CEO. “Those who attend can expect more than elite-level horse racing. They can soak in the elements of food, fashion, and culture that have become associated with this prestigious annual event while enjoying moments designed for a new generation of race fans. We're excited to share more details about The King's Plate in the months to come.”

First run in 1860 with a purse of 50 guineas from Queen Victoria to Canadian-bred horses, the prize from the British monarchy still continues this day. The Queen's Plate was renamed in 1901 to The King's Plate during the reign of four consecutive kings, then returned to The Queen's Plate moniker in 1952 when Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne. In September, King Charles III was named British monarch.

The King's Plate is Canada's oldest and most prestigious Thoroughbred race and the 2023 running, worth $1 million and the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, will mark the 164th edition.

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Keeneland has planted six cherry trees–three on either side of the infield tote board–in tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away Sept. 8. A lifelong horsewoman, Queen Elizabeth II attended the races at Keeneland Oct. 11, 1984, for the inaugural running of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, for which she presented the trophy. The 39th edition of the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, presented by Dixiana, will be contested Saturday.

The tree planting at Keeneland is part of The Queen's Green Canopy initiative to mark The Queen's Platinum Jubilee and to serve as a living legacy to her “extraordinary service to her country and her people.”

“Queen Elizabeth II was an unmatched horsewoman and a tremendous patron of Thoroughbred racing,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “We were fortunate to have welcomed The Queen to Keeneland and Central Kentucky, and her visits to the Bluegrass created a lasting connection. We are honored to pay tribute to her racing legacy.”

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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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Mr. Berry is as always an extremely knowledgeable writer and has seen and understood the greater picture of what Queen Elizabeth II managed to achieve over her 70 years of reign.

Sincerely,
Gunnar Nordqvist

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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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Harry Herbert arrived to work at Bloodstock Research Information Services one day in early 1984 with something surprising to tell company founder and president Richard “Dick” Broadbent III, and asked the secretary if he could see Broadbent. The secretary got back to Herbert and said Broadbent would let him know.

“I said, 'It's quite important,' and she said, 'I don't think I'll be quite brave enough to tell him that,'” Herbert said.

A larger-than-life character with the reputation for a mercurial temperament, Broadbent was soon on the office intercom and, in mildly colorful language, demanded Herbert come see him. The greeting when Herbert arrived in Broadbent's office was similar in tone.

“'You really don't know much about me,'” Herbert recalled telling Broadbent. “'My dad is quite a well-known person in racing in the U.K., and he also manages the Queen's horses and is her closest friend.' (Broadbent) went ballistic. He thought I was literally taking the piss out of him.

“I said, 'No, Mr. Broadbent, it's true. (The Queen) wants to come to Kentucky and see where I work–to see what you've done here, and what you've achieved.'

“Bit by bit, this terrifying, huge man disintegrated. He sort of shrank in front of my eyes. He literally became a different person. It was quite extraordinary.”

Among the undisputed highlights of Brisnet's 50-year history was the visit from Queen Elizabeth II to its Lexington, Kentucky, offices on Oct. 10, 1984, an event that likely wouldn't have happened at any other time if not for the mutual connection of Harry Herbert.

Herbert, 62, has worn and continues to wear many hats in the racing and breeding industry, most notably as chairman and managing director of Highclere Thoroughbreds. Herbert is the second son of the late Seventh Earl of Carnarvon, who viewers of the Netflix miniseries “The Crown” would recognize as the Queen's life-long friend and racing manager Lord Porchester (“Porchy”).

“I started following my dad's horses in my very early 20s, and he saw I was getting interested (in racing),” Herbert said. “It was a dormant gene, where you suddenly wanted to learn more. You want to see the horses train in the morning. I used to go with him to Major Dick Hern's yard. I suppose that's what really got me going.

“I was working in the City (London's financial district) for a stockbroking company. It wasn't doing it for me, and ideally I wanted to be an actor. That wasn't really going to happen.”

Possessing a U.S. passport and dual citizenship, via his American-born mother, Herbert was encouraged by jockey Steve Cauthen, who by then had shifted his tack to England, to pursue an industry career in the U.S., rather than be a “daddy's boy” at home. With prominent horsemen George Strawbridge and Russell Jones Jr. serving as intermediaries, Herbert eventually secured interviews with Bloodstock Research and with Santa Anita.

“I heard right before Christmas I got both jobs I had applied for. (It was) Incredibly exciting,” Herbert said. “I decided on Kentucky, and I still don't quite know why. (It was) sort of a gut feeling to go to Lexington versus Santa Anita, which is a very weird decision.”

Although he drew Broadbent's ire by unknowingly arriving late to work on his first day, Herbert soon relished the day-to-day opportunities and access to pedigree information afforded to him in his new position. In particular, the ability to computer generate an analysis between certain stallions and mares for genetic compatibility proved a boon, both professionally and personally.

“I was told when I left Eton College–I wasn't the best academic by a long stretch–but my master told me, 'The one thing we've set you up for in life, Harry Herbert, is how to write a letter.' And so, when I joined Bloodstock Research, I started writing letters to those people who wanted their mares mated and put through the system. I guess I could write a half-decent letter, and suddenly the business began to go really well. People started hearing about it. Arthur Hancock came in, (along with) Nelson Bunker Hunt.

“All sorts of people wanted this service, and I would stay pretty late in the evenings, because I so wanted to study all of my father's pedigrees and why he'd done the matings he'd done over the years. One of those great moments was calling him up and saying, 'Now I know why you made this mating.' He couldn't believe it, as I sort of dissected every pedigree.”

Duly impressed with what he was hearing from his son across the pond, it was natural to expect Lord Porchester would share this information with the Queen.

“My father called me up and said, 'I was talking to the Queen and I thought she might be interested to come to Kentucky and see the stud farms and to see it all for the first time. Maybe you can help organize it. She definitely wants to see how the whole computer thing works and what you're doing on the pedigree,'” Herbert said.

To read the rest of this story on www.brisnet.com, click here.

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The retired longtime manager of Claiborne Farm, Koch was a Marine and a Vietnam veteran.

Koch was the subject of one of the TDN and Keeneland's Life's Work Oral History project, and Chris McGrath's story on him may be read here.

Hired when Seth Hancock took the reins at the farm, Koch was at the helm at Claiborne for 31 years, running perhaps the best lineup of stallions ever assembled. “Secretariat, of course, was the hype name for non-horse people,” Koch told McGrath in 2019. “Then we had Danzig, Mr. Prospector, and Nijinsky. Sir Ivor, Damascus. The stallions we had in that barn were just unbelievable.”

Koch grew up on a gain farm north of Cincinnati. HIs father wrote for periodicals on agriculture as well as on horse racing and auctions.

“We always had riding horses,” Koch said. “My first was a former lead pony from River Downs. Horse named Billy. I loved that horse. My dad just loved racing and we were always at the Keeneland sales, or at the old Latonia, or at a fair meet.”

He volunteered for the Marine Corps when he graduated at High School at 18 in 1966, and was sent to Vietnam in July of that year. He was stationed in Da Nang, and was honorably discharged at the end of his service. His son Matthew also served in the Marines as an intelligence officer.

His first job in the racing industry was for Charles Kenney at Stoner Creek Farm, working on the feed truck. He was exposed to Standardbreds there, and started learning about equine reproduction while working with artificial insemination. After five years, he went to work for E. P. Taylor, at Oshawa, where he worked with Natalma, Northern Dancer and The Minstrel.

In 1977, he was approached by Seth Hancock at the suggestion of Stuart Janney.

“Seth needed somebody who could handle stallions, run a breeding shed, handle broodmares,” Koch told Chris McGrath. “Do the whole thing. I just looked him in the eye and said, 'Seth, I can do this. You want some references?' He said, 'No, I'm a pretty good judge of a man.' I never asked him what he'd pay me. He never asked me what I wanted. We shook hands because both of us knew it was the right thing to do.”

For years, Koch had the pleasure of showing off the most famous racehorse in the world, Secretariat, to the thousands of tourists and dignitaries who came to the farm to see him, including Queen Elizabeth. Koch told McGrath that she had arrived with a camera around her neck, just as all the others did.

“I'd be leaving the farm on a Saturday night, and here comes a vanload of people from Michigan,” Koch said to McGrath. “'We're closed.' 'Aw, we just drove all day. We just want to see the big red horse.' And I'd walk up there and show them Secretariat. That horse could load a camera. He loved to have his picture taken. One of the most photographed horses in history, I'm sure. He just never did a thing wrong: easy to breed, easy to handle, easy to keep his weight on.”

Koch retired in 2009.

“It's a sad day,” said Seth Hancock Saturday. “He was a whale of a man, not only was he a wonderful manager out here at the farm, but he was a wonderful father, wonderful husband, 10 kids, all of them solid citizens. Just a life well lived for sure. He was part of the family, which is a little bit unusual, because he was not from around here, he was from Ohio. He had worked a little bit at Stoner Creek Farm, but he came to us from Winfields, first in Canada, and then in Maryland.

“He wasn't a Kentucky basketball fan,” Hancock said with a laugh, “like everyone else around here is, but he quickly became part of the family just because of who he was, and the way that he lived his life and all the respect we all had for him.”

Dell Hanock recalled him similarly. “Gus was a fine person as well as a good horseman,” she said. “He was always upbeat and just delightful.”

As a parishioner at the Church of the Annunciation in Paris, Ky., he faithfully led the Rosary before Saturday evening mass for nearly 40 years, was a past Grand Knight of The Knights of Columbus (4th degree), and was past president of the Parish Council. Gus proudly served the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club as president in 1987 and was honored by that group as the 2004 Farm Manager of the Year. He was also a past member of both the Bourbon County School Board and the Bourbon Community Hospital Board.

Visitation will be Tuesday, March 23, 5-8 p.m. at the Church of the Annunciation in Paris with Rosary preceding at 4:45 p.m. Rev. Daniel Fister will celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial at the church Wednesday, March 24, at 10 a.m. and live streamed on www.facebook.com/paris.cdlex. Interment will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Paris. His sons and sons-in-law will serve as pall bearers.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Theresa, and 10 children: Charles (Katie) Koch, Jennifer (Drew) Alvarez, Becky (Mark) Mitchell, Stephen (Wendy) Koch, Matthew (Kristen) Koch, Anthony (Jill) Koch, Amy (Brian) Sellers, Cecilia (Drew) Adams, Gus (Shelley) Koch, and Mary (Bryan) Flachbart, 33 grandchildren and two foster grandchildren.

All five of Koch's sons work in the Thoroughbred industry; Charles, at Lake Horse Transportation; Stephen, 1/ST; Matthew, Shawhan Place; Anthony, Hallway Feeds; Gus, Shawhan Place.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Horse Farm Workers' Educational Assistance Fund (www.horsefarmworkerseducationfund.com) or Church of the Annunciation Building Fund, 1007 Main St., Paris, KY, 40361

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