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» Her Maj to enjoy big day out at races » Jockey guard of honour to greet her
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THE going looks good for the Queen to attend the Epsom Derby during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Palace aides are doing all they can to give Her Majesty, who is 96 today, every chance of being at one of her favourite events of the year “in complete comfort”.
The frail monarch’s love of horses was perfectly reflected in a birthday photo of her between two white ponies, taken in the grounds of Windsor Castle last month.
Epsom racecourse bosses are staying in contact with the Queen’s senior advisers to devise a flexible plan to get her to the sporting event on June 4.
Mobility issues have forced her to pull out of several recent events, including Easter church services for the first time in more than 50 years.
She summoned all her might to attend last month’s memorial service at Westminster Abbey for her beloved late husband Prince Philip, whose funeral was scaled back last year because of Covid restrictions. In recognition of her incredible association with horse racing The Queen’s Stand at Epsom will be permanently renamed
The Queen Elizabeth II Stand.
She will be greeted on the track by a guard of honour, formed by 40 retired and current jockeys who have ridden for her. They will also wear her purple, scarlet and gold silks.
The Queen’s state Bentley could drive near to the course’s main doors so she would have just 65ft to walk to a lift to the Royal Box. Royal sources have also suggested 6ft privacy screens, or even a football-style tunnel, to prevent photographers from capturing her as she leaves the car. A source said: “The Queen will be doing everything she can to be there to watch the
It’s such a privilege to wear the Queen’s colours
Derby in person. She had dedicated much of her life to horse racing and her passion for the sport, the animals and the people around it runs incredibly deep.”
The Queen has previously ruled out using a wheelchair and remains determined to continue to walk for as long as possible. She is currently using a £64,000 golf cart on the Windsor Castle estate to get about and walk her dogs.
The welcoming party of jockeys will include four-time Derby winner Willie Carson, 79, who also rode the Queen’s Oaks winner Dunfermline in 1977, and 1992 Derby winner John Reid.
Current riders in the line-up will be double Derby winners Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore, and another of the Queen’s regular jockeys, Hayley Turner.
Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee could be even more special if one of her horses wins this year’s Derby, the only one of the five Classic flat races to have eluded her as an owner.
Her Majesty, patron of The Jockey Club, currently has three runners in the race: Educator, General Idea and Reach For The Moon.
Four days after her coronation in 1953 her horse Aureole came second.
In 2011 Carlton House, the last horse to contest the Derby in her colours, finished third.
Carson said: “When you put The Queen’s colours on, especially at Epsom, a jockey would grow six inches. It makes you feel important. The Queen is the most famous woman in the whole wide world, so you’re privileged.
“It’s not just the horseracing she enjoys, she enjoys the breeding side of it. She likes to know from trainers how the horse is behaving and its attitude, its temperament.
“She wants to know those things. That’s what she’s really interested in.
“The winning post is the end result and she enjoys that, but she enjoys everything before you get to the winning post.”
The only reigning monarch to win the Derby was Edward VII’s Minoru in 1909. An elegant flower display inspired by the Queen’s coronation gown will be created as part of a “Superbloom” at the Tower of London this summer.
WILLIE CARSON ON RIDING FOR THE QUEEN