John Warren: the Queen's ability to get pleasure out of any horse was remarkable

The Queen was making plans for her horses right up to the end of her life, her racing manager John Warren has revealed.

Her Majesty revelled in the victory of Love Affairs at Goodwood just two days before she died, which turned out to be the final winner of her long association with racing which began even before her 70-year reign.

Warren was with the Queen in Scotland the previous weekend and he told the PA news agency: "We sat there for hours strategising and making plans going forward. I think the nicest thing for me is to know that she was surrounded by her family members.

"She was in such a healthy state of mind and in tremendous form. She really loved having them right there with her and being able to talk about her horses and her love for her horses right to the very end."

The Queen met outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson at Balmoral on the Tuesday and officially anointed Liz Truss as his successor the same day.

Warren said: "I left her on Monday afternoon, the prime ministers were coming in on the Tuesday and she had a winner on the Tuesday.

"On the Tuesday evening she was in really good form, delighted she'd had a winner, and talked about the prime ministers coming in and out. I can hardly believe it possible that within less than 48 hours the Queen had died.

"Shocking as that was, it's wonderful to know that she led a long and full life, and dutiful to the very end. Perhaps the racing community contributed to giving her some pleasure along the way."

Warren nominated the Queen's victory with Estimate in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2013 as the highlight of her time in racing.

He said: "I think it was everything that she'd put into breeding horses and racing horses, achieving an ambition which is no different to any parent wanting their child to win at the Olympics. This felt the same elation as that.

"The Queen has definitely been excited and emotionally charged about having some other winners – particularly at Ascot where the eyes are on – but I think this one was one that was so satisfying because it's such an iconic race."

However, Warren added: "What I found totally remarkable about the Queen was her ability to get so much pleasure out of any horse, no matter what level that horse was able to achieve.

"If we had done our best, if we were able to get the equivalent of a D student a C grade with best endeavour, that itself was tremendous."

In Tuesday's Racing Post