Loss of our greatest supporter and greatest jockey leaves racing bereft

Racing has lost both its greatest friend and its greatest jockey in the last 12 months, and the deaths of the Queen and Lester Piggott have left the sport bereft.

They dominated their respective worlds for decades, and the champion owner and future champion jockey combined for Classic success with her second-string, Carrozza, in the 1957 Oaks.

Supremely knowledgeable, the Queen was at ease with horses and horsey people. All of us in racing knew she was one of us, part of our little world. Above all, she was a fan. She read the Racing Post every morning, and the first six days marked in her diary every year were Derby day and Royal Ascot.