HER MAJESTY'S PLEASURE: How Horse Racing Enthrals the Queen

By their reminiscing, the people who bring this book to life reflect the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's disposition in all turf matters. Invariably smiling when on the racecourse she was also, as Sir Peter O'Sulleven memorably describes, 'a very human being' behind the scenes. No account of her involvement would be complete without a brisk gallop through her six decades of patronage. Racing's twin bedfellows of triumph and disaster are regular themes as are the interplay between Her Majesty and some of racing's well-known players. Her horsewoman's instinct is manifest in subtle ways. Her former trainer Ian Balding averred that she never wore scent when visiting the stables, since perfume is prone to 'stir up' excitable colts. Her Majesty's diary was drawn up in outline 18 months in advance, and in detail six months ahead. Every year six days were ring-fenced - the five days of Royal Ascot, and Derby Day at Epsom. This beautifully illustrated volume shows her time spent with Thoroughbreds and the myriad human characters in the sport. Contributors include racing advisor John Warren, the Royal Mews Manager and Stud Groom Terry Pendry, the Royal Studs' Manager Joe Grimwade, and former director Sir Michael Oswald and his wife Lady Angela (who served a mean lunch). Then there are the trainers past and present, former jockeys like Willie Snaith, stable lad Peter 'Caz' Williams, and racing stalwarts like Clare Balding, the TV presenter. We meet the men and horses the late Her Majesty has known, the race courses, Carlton House's narrow defeat at Epsom 2011 and on the morning of her Coronation in 1953 heard that her horse Aureole had completed his Derby preparation with a pleasing gallop in Newmarket earlier that morning. He was in rude health as the Queen contemplated what lay ahead. There is the golden decade of the 50s, the barren decade of the 60s, the twin peaks of Highclere and Dunfermline, West Ilsley and Frankie Dettori at Epson in 1993 with Height Of Fashion in full cry pictured winning the 1981 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster under Joe Mercer. Dozens of never-before-seen photographs in both colour and black and white throughout this superbly well illustrated 256 page in-depth account of Her Majesty's pleasure.