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| |  Friday, 14 June, 2002, 16:31 GMT 17:31 UK By royal appointment The Queen's last Royal Ascot winner was in 1999 To mark the Golden Jubilee, this year's Royal Ascot meeting has been extended to five days but it is unlikely that Her Majesty will be grumbling about the extra work involved in this particular public appearance. For Queen Elizabeth II is a racing enthusiast, continuing a royal passion for the sport that dates back to King Charles II. The current monarch has enjoyed 17 winners at Royal Ascot, the first being Choir Boy, who won the Royal Hunt Cup in 1952.
That mile-long contest has also yielded two other winners for the Queen and, along with the Ribblesdale Stakes, has proved to be her most successful race at the meeting. The 1950s were a golden era for the Queen's string and arguably her best horse in this period was Aureole. In 1954, Aureole won the Hardwicke Stakes - a good day for the Queen who also won the Rous Memorial Stakes with Landau - and then went on to become a champion sire. The colt's success helped the Queen to the champion owner's title in 1954, a crown she regained in 1957, when she picked up another couple of winners at Royal Ascot. Almeria collected the Ribblesdale Stakes while Pall Mall was successful in the New Stakes.
Since the end of the 1970s, the quality of the Queen's crop of horses has fallen off but there have been three royal winners in the last 10 years. Colour Sergeant won the Royal Hunt Cup in 1992, Phantom Gold took the 1995 Ribblesdale Stakes and Blueprint very aptly won the inaugural running of the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes (formerly the Bessborough Stakes) in 1999. Royal Ascot is said to be one of the high points of the Queen's year - and after the success of the recent Golden Jubilee celebrations and with an extra day's racing, this year will doubtless be no different. But several absentees will bring sad reminders of what has also been a sombre 12 months for the Queen. The deaths earlier this year of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, both regulars in the royal carriage procession, will undoubtedly be a cause for sorrow. As will be the absence of Lord Carnavon, the Queen's racing manager for over 30 years, who died last September. | |
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