If she were not monarch, the Queen has said, she would like a simple life in the country breeding dogs and horses. She has a reputation as an animal lover - although British animal welfare groups would disagree, as she and her family have been known to participate in bloodsports when staying at Balmoral and Sandringham.
Famed for her attachment to corgis, she has introduced a new cross-breed known as "dorgis", the result of her sister's dachshund covering one of her corgi bitches. She also breeds black and golden labradors, which she trains as gundogs. These frequently win prizes at country shows.
 
The Queen's racehorses have won over 600 races, many of them flat racing classics, although the one that still eludes the monarch is the Derby. Her first winner was Monaveen, who romped home first at the First Chichester Stakes in 1949. One of her fillies, called The Height Of Fashion, was sold to a Gulf sheikh for over a million pounds.

 

 
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