An open letter to racing’s greatest asset – our Queen
Your Majesty,
On behalf of the readers of The Daily Telegraph, I would like to thank you for everything you have done for the sport of horse racing during your reign.
The impact of your patronage goes way beyond your personal involvement in breeding and racing your horses for the past 70 years, although the sight of the past and present jockeys honouring you on the track at Epsom on Saturday was a reminder that you have “stuck at it”.
But the aura of your involvement has meant racing has been able to punch well above its weight.
It is why many of the most influential horse breeders in the past seven decades have chosen to breed and race their best bloodstock in this country rather than abroad, where the prize money on offer is significantly better.
The prospect of a bumpy ride in one of your carriages up the course at Ascot before racing at the Royal meeting has probably created thousands of jobs and given the racing public years of intrigue and memories, such is the pull of your involvement and passion.
The equine powerhouses of Coolmore and Godolphin would not now be gracing our racecourses with most of their assembled champions if racing had not had the good fortune to capture your imagination. Our top races would have long lost their lure without your involvement.
The Derby would also not have been the Holy Grail of Raymond Guest and Charles Engelhard in 1968 and 1970 without your connection. And without that, the great champions Sir Ivor and Nijinsky would never have been
shipped from the United States and Canada to race in the UK, albeit from Vincent O’brien’s yard in Tipperary.
Indeed, Robert Sangster would probably not have started a “gene rush” when he raided the sales in Kentucky for sons of Northern Dancer to race and breed in Europe if your interest had not bolstered the breeding and racing industries in this country.
But there is now, as you will know, a very real danger that the dam is about to burst and all of that good work will be undone by an exodus of equine talent to foreign
parts. Whilst all of the capabilities to breed and nurture young talent are retained in this country, the pulling power of bigger financial rewards abroad is growing.
This is not something you can prevent single-handedly. And perhaps Saturday’s Derby winner, Desert Crown, will turn out to be a great champion who retires to stud in England and does his bit to keep in this country the sort of mares who are likely to produce future champions.
You will also know that Desert Crown could be in no better hands than those of your trainer Sir
Michael Stoute. His victory on Saturday felt entirely appropriate on the occasion of your Platinum Jubilee and a reminder of what a nostalgic bunch we are.
At the age of 76, Stoute is something of a spring chicken compared to someone who has been on the throne for nearly that amount of time, but one can only stay around the top of one’s profession for as long as Sir Michael has by being a great survivor, as well as an enormous talent.
It is strange to think that even though he had won the Derby five times before Saturday – most memorably with the extraordinary Shergar in the 202nd Derby in 1981 – he was the “underdog” up against the Coolmore and Godolphin giants. But I doubt there was a cooler head on the Epsom Downs.
As the Archbishop of York reminded us, you are still very much in the saddle and staying the course. Hopefully, your children and grandchildren, as they did on Derby day, will be influenced by your passion. They, like you, are an enormously welcome presence on our racecourses.
We missed you on Saturday, only the third Derby you have missed since 1953. But congratulations are still due for your winner on the day at Worcester. After all, a winner is a winner, no matter how small.
And we all join your son, the Prince of Wales, and continue to keep our fingers crossed for the Derby… next year, perhaps?
I have the honour to remain, Ma’am, your most humble and obedient servant.