The horse-racing world was swift to honour its famous royal enthusiast, with jockeys donning black armbands and a minute’s silence observed at each of the 15 Easter Monday meetings in memory of the Queen Mother.
“Racing has lost its greatest ambassador,” said five-times champion jockey Willie Carson.
An aficionado of the sport for five decades – she said she became “completely hooked” in 1949 after buying a steeple-chaser – the Queen Mum had 11 horses in training at her Sandringham stud in the last months of her life. And just weeks ago, the 101-year-old had discussed how one of “her boys”, as she called them, could win the highly-coveted Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2006.
“She knew more about racing than any other owner,”said author and former jockey Dick Francis, who developed such a firm friendship with Queen Elizabeth while riding for her he sent her a first edition of all his books long after he switched careers. “Racing thrilled her,” he added. “She loved to see her horses win, loved being close to the action.”
And she wasn’t just fond of the sport – the “first lady of racing” also cared for the jockeys themselves, becoming patron of the Injured Jockeys Fund in the 1960s. “We absolutely adored her,” says Fund president Lord Oaksey. “She was the best thing that ever happened to National Hunt racing.”
Meanwhile, the Football Association announced that players would also wear black armbands and hold a moment of silence during matches. “We join the rest of the sporting world and the country in mourning the loss of the Queen Mother,” said the association’s head of communications, Paul Newman. “Like everyone else, our thoughts are with the other members of the royal family at this time.”
Photo: © Alphapress.com
