Nicky Henderson: 'The week after Cheltenham she could tell me about every race'

Only 71 of the Queen's 1,121 winners worldwide as an owner came over jumps, which leaves little room for ambiguity when it comes to pinpointing where her priorities as a prominent owner-breeder lay.

The Flat undoubtedly came first but that is not to say the jumps played an insignificant role in her enduring passion for the turf. In fact, her first winner as an owner came over fences at Fontwell in 1949 when she was still Princess Elizabeth.

She was already enchanted by racing at that time, having been first captivated by her grandfather King George V regaling how his filly Scuttle won the 1928 1,000 Guineas.

At 16 she was left mesmerised by a visit to Fred Darling's Beckhampton stables with her parents to watch the King's champion colt Big Game and Triple Crown heroine Sun Chariot exercise, and in one of her early visits to the racecourse she saw her father’s Hypericum win the 1,000 Guineas in 1946. It was not long either before she became well acquainted with the mares and foals at the royal stud at Hampton Court.

After she married Prince Philip in 1947 her wedding present from the Aga Khan was a filly foal, who was named Astrakhan and went into training with Willie Smyth, but it was Lord Mildmay who encouraged the princess and her mother to also buy a jumper, and they decided to share ownership of Monaveen, trained by Peter Cazalet.

Astrakhan and Monaveen both made their debuts in the princess's colours in October 1949, with Monaveen scoring over fences at Fontwell to become the future Queen's first winner.

Monaveen was a smart individual. He won the Queen Elizabeth Chase at Hurst Park that December, a race almost as valuable as the same season's Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle, and the best race the Queen won over jumps. He came fifth to Freebooter in the 1950 Grand National, but his career ended in tragedy when he broke a leg when attempting a repeat win at Hurst Park in December 1950.

When King George VI died in February 1952, the new Queen announced that she would breed and race on the same lines as her father before her. Inheriting his breeding stock and racehorses, all of which were Flat horses, meant she had decided to concentrate exclusively on the Flat.

In contrast, through an enduring and successful association with Cazalet, the Queen Mother became a head of state figure for jump racing in much the same way her daughter would preside over the Flat in years to come.

Cazalet trained 262 winners for the Queen Mother, including King George VI Chase winner Manicou and Champion Hurdle runner-up Makaldar but the horse regarded as her favourite was Game Spirit, who finished third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and won 21 races in all.

Devon Loch: provided the most dramatic moment of the Queen Mother's racing career

Devon Loch provided the most dramatic moment of the Queen Mother's racing career when sprawling to the ground 50 yards from the winning post with the 1956 Grand National at his mercy.

With Fulke Walwyn she won the Schweppes Gold Trophy with Tammuz, who was bred initially for the Flat by the Queen, and saw Special Cargo carry off the Whitbread Gold Cup in one of the most thrilling finishes ever witnessed.

Insular, who like Tammuz, was initially bred by the monarch for the Flat, won the 1986 Imperial Cup in the Queen Mother's colours, which were carried to victory a record five times in the Grand Military Gold Cup.

Despite the Queen Mother very much leading royal interest over jumps, both Bill Smith and Kevin Mooney, who enjoyed successful spells as the Queen Mother's main rider when her horses were with Walwyn, say the Queen always paid a close interest in her mother's horses, not least because many were bred by her with the Flat originally in mind.

"As far as I understand it, the Queen was as interested in the jumps as she was the Flat but she didn't breed the jumpers like she did the Flat horses," says 73-year-old Smith, who rode 65 winners in total for the Queen Mother. "The Queen loved her breeding and that was her big passion, but she enjoyed jump racing very much."

Mooney, who rode as the Queen Mother's main jockey between 1984 and 1991, says: "The Queen bred horses and when they finished with Dick Hern on the Flat, they'd come into Fulke's and race over jumps for the Queen Mother. The first winner I rode for the Queen Mother was Cranbourne Tower, who had won on the Flat for Dick Hern.

"I met the Queen a couple of times when she was with the Queen Mother at one of those November or December meetings at Ascot and she loved both aspects [Flat and jumps] of the sport."

'You couldn't get any better than that'

The Queen was absent when substitute rider Mooney partnered Special Cargo to victory in the Whitbread. Smith, riding for the final time before retirement, had instead chosen to ride stablemate Diamond Edge, who came out third-best in an epic finish.

That evening both Mooney and Smith were invited to a flat in Chelsea owned by Colonel Whitbread to celebrate the result. It was for a select party only and included the Queen Mother, the Queen and Princess Margaret.

"Fulke and Cath Walwyn were also there, Colonel Whitbread and his wife and me and Bill Jones," remembers Mooney, 67. "Bill and I were meant to take our wives but the Queen Mother gave a message to us asking if our wives could drop out because she wanted to take her two daughters.

"You couldn't get any better than that. We were watching racing videos from way back in the day right the way through to Special Cargo. The Queen was very relaxed and actually sat on the floor with her back to the sofa and said she always sat on the floor to watch racing. You couldn't get any more laid-back and it made everyone feel really comfortable."

Trainer Nicky Henderson: 'I was very lucky and so was jump racing because, when we lost the Queen Mother, there was a continuation and jumping had that royal patronage'Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com)

On the Queen Mother's death in 2002 her horses were inherited by the Queen, who therefore owned her first jumpers since Monaveen in 1950. Indeed, 67 of the 71 winners she celebrated over jumps came this millennium.

The switch of ownership meant Nicky Henderson, who followed Cazalet and Walwyn before him training for the Queen Mother, became the Queen's principal jumps trainer.

"When the Queen Mother died, the Queen very kindly took over the horses and I suspect I went with them, but it was lovely and an honour to train for Her Majesty," says Henderson. "I was very lucky and so was jump racing because, when we lost the Queen Mother, there was a continuation and jumping had that royal patronage. They were two great ladies."

Among the first to switch to the Queen's colours was the Henderson-trained First Love.

He first ran in the monarch's embroidered silks in November 2002 before becoming an emotional winner of the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Memorial Hunters' Chase in 2006 when ridden by Jamie Snowden.

"I was fortunate enough to have a few rides for the Queen when I was assistant and amateur at Nicky's and she loved it," says Snowden. "I can't comment on it in comparison to Flat racing but she certainly loved her jumping and she was very knowledgeable about it as well.

"First Love was one of the first to run after she inherited the string from her mother. For myself, to put on the colours was a very proud and fortunate position to be in and certainly one I will remember for the rest of my life. I'd like to hope she enjoyed First Love's win as much as I did."

Barbers Shop: eight-time winner and the best since Monaveen to carry the Queen's silks over jumpsCredit: Edward Whitaker

Barbers Shop, bred by the Queen, was the best since Monaveen to carry her silks over jumps, winning eight of his 24 races for Henderson.

He became the Queen's only runner in the Cheltenham Gold Cup when seventh to Kauto Star in 2009, a year after failing by just a neck to win at the Cheltenham Festival when second in the Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase.

He also finished runner-up to Imperial Commander in the 2008 Paddy Power Gold Cup and third to Kauto Star in the following year's King George. He represented Her Majesty at four Cheltenham Festivals in all.

"She loved racing and she knew her horses," says Mick Fitzgerald, who partnered Barbers Shop in his formative years. "She came to Seven Barrows a few mornings to watch the schooling and she loved it. She enjoyed watching the horses being put through their paces and a lot of them were horses she'd bred herself, so she'd known them from the cradle. She was very aware of all their characters and what they were capable of. She was a horsewoman."

Going to the last in the Jewson, Fitzgerald sensed a first festival success for the Queen but still rues to this day not being able to quite peg Finger Onthe Pulse back.

He says: "Down to the last I thought I was going to win. I could see the stride from a fair way back but when he took off, he was almost like an aeroplane trying to land and just seemed to take ages in the air. It cost me as the other horse just got away from me on the flat and I couldn't get him back. I was gutted."

Henderson trained 61 winners from 222 runners for the Queen in all and although she had a deeper connection to Flat racing, where the breeding element which Her Majesty was so passionate about has more prominence, he fondly recalls her knowledge of what was happening at all times over jumps.

"I loved talking to her about the horses and she'd say what she thought too – if she didn't like an idea, she'd tell you," he says. "I know she watched the sport and followed it avidly because when we had our Sunday morning chats she knew exactly what was going on; the week after Cheltenham she could have told me about every race.

"Barbers Shop was the best we trained for her and he was a lovely horse, while I think she got a huge thrill out of Steal A March winning at Worcester on Derby day [this year], which was part of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations. That win gave us a lot of pleasure."

The Queen gives Barbers Shop a carrot at the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting ArtCredit: Mark Westley

Other notable winners over jumps came in the shape of Close Touch's success in the Grade 3 EBF Final at Sandown in 2013, Forth Bridge's win in the 2019 Silver Bowl at Kempton and Sunshade's victory in a Listed hurdle at Cheltenham in April of the same year.

Although never successful as an owner at the festival in March, she became a winning breeder at jump racing's most prestigious meeting when Domesday Book won the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase in 2017.

Her Flat-race cast-offs often performed to a high standard over jumps, the best of them being St Patrick's Blue, who won the wealthy Timeform Gold Trophy Handicap at Redcar for the Queen in 1970 and, after being sold, became the champion staying hurdler of 1971-72, winning the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.

Others included 1986 Galway Hurdle winner Rushmoor and the Martin Pipe-trained filly Hopscotch, who won 11 races as a juvenile hurdler in 1990-91, including the Grade 1 Finale.

The Queen also played a hand in 1985 Grand National winner Last Suspect, who was sired by Her Majesty's 1959 St James's Palace Stakes scorer Above Suspicion. Wherever you look, it is impossible to miss her influence on the jumps.

Click here for a detailed look at the Queen's achievements in racing

In Tuesday's Racing Post