Queen Elizabeth's Love of Horseracing Through the Years

The royal family has a rich history of owning and watching racehorses, and Queen Elizabeth has always been an enthusiastic supporter of horse racing. Let’s take a look back on her lifelong passion.

Early Years

The queen’s interest in racing developed at an early age and flourished when she joined her mother and father on a visit to Fred Darling’s stables in the spring of 1942. It was there that the then-16-year-old Princess Elizabeth was introduced to Big Game, her father’s winning horse, at the 2000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket — and she was left awestruck.

Once she was married, she was given her first racehorse, Astrakhan, by the Aga Khan. Astrakhan ran second on her debut at Ascot in October 1949.

Queen Elizabeth’s first horse-racing win came three days later at Fontwell Park when Monaveen, who she owned with her mother, won a steeplechase.

Race Winners

Queen Elizabeth has owned numerous stunning thoroughbreds throughout the years, and has had great success in the races. Her horses have won five British Classics:

Pall Mall won the 2000 Guineas Stakes in 1958.
Highclere won the 1000 Guineas Stakes in 1974.
Carrozza won the Epsom Oaks in 1957.
Dunfermline won the Epsom Oaks in 1977 and also won the St. Leger Stakes that same year.

The Derby remains the only British Classic to elude the queen to date. Aureole finished runner-up in the 1953 Derby, four days after Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, and Carlton House finished third in 2011, having started out as a well-liked favorite.

Her Majesty’s Best Horses

Although Aureole didn’t win a Derby victory during coronation week, he returned the following year to win the Ascot race named after the queen’s parents, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1954. It was thus a poignant triumph. The queen was present to see Aureole win, but she was unwell on the day Pall Mall won the 2000 Guineas Stakes. However, the queen was on hand to witness Highclere’s triumph in the 1000 Guineas Stakes 16 years later. In 1954 and 1957 the queen was named British Flat Racing Champion Owner, the first reigning monarch to ever do so.

Royal Silks and Fashion

The jockeys riding the queen’s horses can be identified by the queen’s racing colors: purple body with gold braid, scarlet sleeves, and black velvet cap with gold fringe — the same as those of King Edward VII and George IV as Prince Regent.

The queen herself always brings a splash of color to the racecourse, and there is always great interest in what she will be wearing. At Royal Ascot, viewers wait in anticipation and often have a small bet on what shade the queen will be wearing each day, which will be matched perfectly to her hat.

“The queen doesn’t want to have hat brims that are too big as she’s got to get in and out of cars and she wants people to see her,” says her milliner Rachel Trevor-Morgan, “The queen does tend to like a lot of bright colors because she’s seen and she stands out.”