Horseracing was an active passion of Her Majesty The Queen and she enjoyed great success throughout the years, winning every Classic except the Derby at Epsom.
She had a lifelong association with the sport and was a regular at Royal Ascot each June, where she enjoyed victory with the likes of Phantom Gold in 1995 and a famous Gold Cup triumph with Estimate in 2013.
The Queen’s distinctive purple and red colours were celebrated at this year’s Derby meeting, with 40 jockeys past and present gathering to form a spectacular guard of honour for the royal party in celebration of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Her Majesty’s best horses through the years…
Aureole
One of The Queen’s first genuine stars, Aureole very nearly gave Her Majesty a victory in the Derby in 1953, just a year after her coronation.
A raw two-year-old, Aureole came into his own at three, first winning the Lingfield Derby Trial before running an excellent race to be second at Epsom, only denied by Gordon Richards on favourite Pinza.
He sparkled as a four-year-old, winning easily in the Coronation Cup at Epsom before repeating the trick in the Hardwicke Stakes for trainer Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, scoring narrowly from French colt Janitor.
Despite unseating his rider Eph Smith on the way to the start ahead of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, horse and jockey recovered and pulled off a remarkable success, beating the likes of 2000 Guineas winner Darius in what would be his final start before being retired to stud.
The Queen greets Aureole after victory in the King George VI and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes
Carrozza
The Queen’s first Classic winner in Carrozza was another who thrived with racing, having made steady impression at two before improving out of all recognition for trainer Noel Murless at three.
Following victory in a 1000 Guineas trial, she finished fourth despite going off favourite for that Classic, but made amends the following month at Epsom with an inspired Lester Piggott in the saddle.
Despite being the lesser fancied of the two runners for The Queen, Piggott and Carrozza clung on in a tight finish to land The Oaks, enabling Her Majesty to become the leading owner in Britain that year.
Her Majesty The Queen leads in Carrozza, with Lester Piggott in the saddle, after victory in the 1957 Oaks
Doutelle
While not quite going on to achieve the kind of top-level accolades as Carrozza, Doutelle became the first big winner bred by The Queen in her own right.
A hugely consistent horse, he went on to win the Derby Trial and the Ormonde Stakes, as well as being placed in the Gold Cup and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
When asked by Horse And Hound in 2020 for her five favourite racehorses, The Queen named Doutelle, along with Aureole, Highclere, Phantom Gold and Estimate.
Doutelle was retired to The Queen’s Sandringham Stud, where his stallion career was tragically cut short at the age of eight.
The Queen points to her colt Doutelle, who had just won the 2,000 Guineas Trial Stakes at Kempton Park
Pall Mall
A first home-bred Classic winner came in 1958, as Pall Mall caused a minor shock in taking the 2000 Guineas for Cecil Boyd-Rochfort and jockey Doug Smith.
As a two-year-old, he won the New Stakes – now the Norfolk Stakes – at Royal Ascot but didn’t get back in the winner’s enclosure again until success in a Classic Trial at Thirsk the following season.
That teed him up for a run in the Newmarket Classic where he duly delivered at 20/1, before landing the inaugural running of the Lockinge Stakes, a feat he would repeat in 1959.
Pall Mall retired at the end of his four-year-old season, having been awarded a peak Timeform rating of 132.
Pall Mall, ridden by Doug Smith, wins the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in 1958
Highclere
Highclere proved to be a roaring success on the track but arguably had a greater legacy in the breeding shed after retiring from racing.
She was the first of two dual Classic winners for The Queen in the 1970s, taking the 1000 Guineas for champion trainer Dick Hern by a short head under Joe Mercer from favourite Polygamy.
A tilt at the Oaks was expected, although instead she headed for the French equivalent, the Prix de Diane, and duly won with The Queen in attendance at Chantilly.
As a broodmare, she produced several stars including Princess of Wales’s Stakes winner Height of Fashion, who subsequently produced 2000 Guineas and Derby winner Nashwan.
Highclere (far side) wins in a photo finish to the 1000 guineas at Newmarket in 1974
Dunfermline
The second dual Classic winner for The Queen in the decade, Dunfermline was a very popular winner of both the Oaks and St Leger in Her Majesty’s Silver Jubilee year.
Although she failed to win at two, Dunfermline was an emphatic winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes on seasonal reappearance and proved to be a special filly when taking the Epsom Classic by three-quarters of a length.
Irish-trained colt Alleged was a red-hot favourite to take the St Leger, but it was Dunfermline who got the better of him in an extended duel on the Doncaster turf.
The Queen’s horse Dunfermline, ridden by Willie Carson, just ahead of Freeze the Secret, ridden by Gianfranco Dettori, during an exciting finish to the Oaks at Epsom
Height Of Fashion
Like the aforementioned Highclere, Height Of Fashion’s legacy in racing can be measured by her career after retirement.
She put together an excellent unbeaten two-year-old campaign, including wins in the Acomb Stakes, May Hill Stakes and the Fillies’ Mile, and then took the Princess of Wales’s Stakes the following year at Newmarket.
After being sold to Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, she proved to be an exceptional broodmare, producing the likes of Nashwan as well as Champion Stakes heroine Ghanaati.
Height Of Fashion with Willie Carson in the saddle
Phantom Gold
One of Frankie Dettori’s career highlights came at Royal Ascot in 1995, when he guided Her Majesty’s Phantom Gold to victory in the Ribblesdale Stakes for trainer Lord Huntingdon.
She defeated Oaks second Dance A Dream on that occasion and later that year took the St Simon Stakes at Newbury.
Dettori’s second and final ride on Phantom Gold was also a winner, in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury before she was retired to the breeding shed.
Frankie Dettori rides Phantom Gold to victory in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury
Carlton House
Aureole was second in the Derby but Carlton House arguably was closer to providing Her Majesty with victory in the world’s biggest flat race.
Hopes were very high for the Royal runner – trained by Sir Michael Stoute – after success in the 2011 Dante Stakes at York under Ryan Moore, widely considered the leading trial for the Epsom Classic.
In one of the most iconic Derby’s ran in recent years, Carlton House was sent off favourite and challenged up the straight but was one-paced late on and could only finish third, beaten a length by Pour Moi and Mickael Barzalona, who stood up in the saddle to deliver one of racing’s most memorable shots.
He later won the Brigadier Gerard Stakes before being transferred to Gai Waterhouse in Australia, narrowly being beaten in the Group One Ranvet Stakes.
Carlton House (right) is beaten by Pour Moi in the 2011 Derby
Estimate
Sir Michael Stoute and Ryan Moore would team up again two years after Carlton House’s near miss, this time landing the Ascot Gold Cup at the Royal Meeting for Her Majesty, a race she had failed to win prior to 2013.
Estimate hinted at his staying ability when landing the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot in 2012, before placing at Glorious Goodwood and in the Doncaster Cup.
And that was confirmed the following season, when proving a narrow winner of the Ascot Gold Cup in front of the delighted monarch, who later stepped into the winner’s enclosure to greet the horse and collect the trophy.
Jockey Ryan Moore salutes The Queen after winning the 2013 Gold Cup on Estimate
Dartmouth
Having made a relatively unspectacular start to his racing career, winning a trio of handicaps as a three-year-old, Darmouth soon developed into a star stayer in 2016, lifting the Ormonde Stakes before success at Royal Ascot in the Hardwicke Stakes under Olivier Peslier.
Before signing off for his new career at stud, Dartmouth added the 2017 Yorkshire Cup, with Ryan Moore in the saddle.
The Queen’s 24th and most recent Royal Ascot winner – 67 years after her first success at the meeting – came in 2020 as Tactical, trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by James Doyle, won the Windsor Castle Stakes.
Dartmouth (right), ridden by Olivier Peslier, wins the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2016
