'She has been more important to this sport than any other single person'

Only now will British racing discover what it is to be without her.

Queen Elizabeth II was famously passionate about breeding and racing thoroughbreds. It was one of the true joys of her life. Yet however much horseracing gave her, she gave immeasurably more back.

She was racing's figurehead. The fact it was her sport meant others were drawn into making it their sport. She brought in new fans but also new investment. It would be no exaggeration to say the Queen was of critical importance to the signing of British racing's biggest ever sponsorship deal. Without her, Qipco would very likely not have pumped many millions of pounds into British Champions Day and the wider Champions Series.

Newmarket, the headquarters of British racing, has flourished, perhaps even survived, thanks to middle-eastern money. But for the Queen, the owners who supplied that money may not have fixated on Britain. Countless people will have bought tickets for Royal Ascot primarily because it afforded them the chance to see their monarch and to be swept up by the pomp and pageantry of the royal procession. They were in her thrall. So was the most powerful figure in world racing, John Magnier, who has a photograph of her visit to Coolmore on one of his walls.

The Queen: very popular with the Royal Ascot crowdCredit: Edward Whitaker

"British racing will be completely bereft without her," says leading industry figure David Redvers, who spent time with the Queen as part of his role with Qatar Racing.

"I don't think her importance can be overstated, nor the extent to which the sport has relied on her. The lustre she has brought to British horseracing as a whole, without even specifying Royal Ascot, is colossal. There cannot be a sport anywhere in the world in which one person has had such an enormously positive influence. She has been more important to this sport than any other single person or factor, in my opinion."

Assessing exactly how important is made more complicated because of the length of the Queen's reign.

The Duke of Devonshire, who served as Her Majesty's representative at Ascot from 1997 to 2011, says: "Because the Queen was the queen for so long, and because she was interested in racing for so long, it's quite a difficult question to answer. You can't, for example, look to before she turned 50 and say racing was like that then and this is how it became. The Queen has always been there throughout the lifetimes of everybody in racing. I doubt there is anybody in the sport who was around before her.

"We have always described racing as the sport of kings and queens – and thanks to the Queen it has been wonderful to know that has been true. The Queen undoubtedly added glamour to racing. She was a glamorous lady herself, someone who always had an aura around her. She was also part of the scene and often very visible at the races, particularly when she was younger. I think it made people proud to know the Queen liked what they liked.

"Horseracing really is a sport in which the Queen always participated, which was a great thing for racing. The Queen's involvement in racing also emphasised that everyone is equal on the turf because you could beat the Queen by a short-head and not lose your head. Nobody would ever have stopped a horse simply to let the Queen win."

The Queen at the Derby with her private secretary Sir William HeseltineCredit: Getty Images

More than any racecourse, Ascot was associated with the Queen. It was her racecourse. Royal Ascot was her meeting. The royal cypher was printed on the front of racecard, with her signed message to racegoers appearing on the first page. In pre-Covid years she would sit in the lead carriage of the royal procession and then regularly appear studying horses in the paddock. She would present prizes to the winners of the Gold Cup and what is now the Platinum Jubilee Stakes. Many horses carried her silks over the four days that became five. To communal delight, plenty of them won. Nowhere was her uniquely special stardust sprinkled more liberally.

"The Queen has been the reason so many international runners turn up at Royal Ascot," says Redvers. "Nobody could think the connections of Black Caviar were lured to Ascot by the prize-money. International stars have come to Ascot for the opportunity to race in front of the Queen."

It would be wrong to say the great and the good of international racing arrived at a venue ignored by its host for the previous 12 months. The Queen knew she was guardian of something that deserved her attention and consideration.

"The Queen's interest in the Ascot team, and indeed her support for the team, was marvellous," says Devonshire.

"In my first year as her representative I was up with her in the royal box every day. At the end of the meeting I remember thinking I must have said, 'I don't know Ma'am', more times than anyone in history. To so many of her detailed questions, right down to things like camera angles, I didn't have a clue – and you really could not bluff with the Queen or make things up. That would have been a huge blunder.

"I should say, however, that she wasn't critical, simply interested. She never called me a fool – I'm sure she thought that but she never said it, which was lovely."

She did, however, make sure her feelings were made obvious.

"There is one particular story that I think shows how amazing the Queen really was," says Devonshire.

"In the old days, two white lines were painted on the grass at Ascot, no more than two metres apart, to show the route the Queen would take between the grandstand and parade ring. As she walked in between the lines there was no visible security, even though there were big crowds of people, five, six, seven deep, either side of the white line.

"One of my jobs was to walk with the Queen as she made her way along that route. I became increasingly nervous, particularly when people started to put out their cameras at arm's length to get a photo of the Queen. There was no physical barrier between them and her, which made me feel it had become quite dangerous.

"Without asking her, I arranged with Ascot's chief executive, Douglas Erskine-Crum, for two pieces of rope to be placed alongside each white line. Then, when she started walking, two or three greencoats would pick up the ropes to form a very loose but clear barrier between the Queen and the racegoers.

"When we got back to the royal box after the first time of doing that she asked me what were those ropes? I explained I had become nervous because of people getting increasingly close to her. Very politely, she said: 'Please get rid of those ropes.' I did so, quite quickly. It was entirely my fault and it taught me a sharp lesson. I should only do something like that if she told me to do so."

Devonshire adds: "Another year we wanted to welcome people a bit better after they arrived at the racecourse. We arranged for some army, navy and air force cadets to approach people who looked lost and take them wherever they were trying to go.

"After two or three days the Queen said to me: 'Why are you using my service staff as ushers?' That was the end of that."

The Queen: a magnificent supporter of the racing and breeding industriesCredit: WPA Pool

Sir Johnny Weatherby, who succeeded Devonshire as Ascot chairman and Her Majesty's representative, had first-hand experience of the Queen's desire to make Ascot the best it could possibly be.

"Her Majesty's attention to detail was mesmerising," says Weatherby.

"Nothing escaped her notice. One opening day at Royal Ascot, she looked out over the racecourse from the royal box and gently, but firmly, opined that the bushes down at Swinley Bottom must be obscuring the view for patrons on the grandstand steppings below. Needless to say, we had the pruning team out most of the night. The next day I saw the Queen glance towards Swinley Bottom and smile."

Weatherby adds: "To help celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, the Queen agreed to write a short note of welcome for inclusion in the Royal Ascot racecards. This proved so popular with racegoers that the team knew it should become an annual feature.

"The Queen was not so sure anyone was particularly interested in her piece, so I was despatched to Windsor to attest that the royal welcome was the only page in the racecard that we knew absolutely everyone would read!"

Those same people would likely also have headed out on to the grandstand steppings, filled the lawns or packed deep around the paddock from around 2pm, when each day's royal procession made its way through the Golden Gates at the top of the straight course.

Erskine-Crum, responsible for running Ascot from 1994 to 2006, says: "People think the royal procession simply involved the Queen getting in at one end and out at the other. She actually took an immense interest in the horses and the carriages because she knew it was a semi-state occasion.

"After the redevelopment she once came at 7am to work out the exact route the procession should take through the new site. She looked at the angles and whether or not the horses could easily turn. She delighted in the details and, of course, she had it absolutely right."

Mindful of the Queen's workload, Devonshire would seek not to impinge on his boss too frequently, nor would he give her too many pieces of paper, given how much she already had to read. They would, however, meet around twice a year and have regular telephone catch-ups.

"The worst possible thing was for her to read something in the paper about Ascot before I had told her," admits Devonshire, who confirms the Queen was kept abreast of all plans relating to the track's £200 million redevelopment from 2004 to 2006, during which a huge new grandstand was constructed and the straight course resited. By necessity, she was also pivotal to keeping the royal meeting at five days, a move made initially in 2002 to mark her golden jubilee.

"There was a point when I was summoned to justify continuing the fifth day," says Devonshire. "It had been done as a one-off – and one of the royal household's means of protecting the Queen was preventing one-offs becoming permanent.

"Ascot and racing were a little different. The Queen absolutely understood the main reason for the Saturday was we could get younger people to the royal meeting. She felt it was really important younger people could get involved and I think she understood the glamour of the royal meeting could convert some people into becoming fans. She was thinking about the industry."

Now the industry must think how it continues without her. There is no suggestion the Queen's racing legacy will not be maintained by her family, yet whatever comes next cannot possibly match what came before.

Johnno Spence, one of racing's leading communications experts, says: "The sport is renowned for its royal patronage, and that was particularly true in relation to the Queen. It has greatly helped British racing to sell itself and make it more powerful. Name another sport that could guarantee the Queen would be present every year on certain days? Racing has been alone in that regard.

"Ascot have had the golden ticket, as they knew that, in a normal year, the Queen would be in attendance on all five days of the royal meeting and also on Champions Day. Although from a commercial point of view Ascot could never sell the Queen's attendance, brands have known her association with the racecourse. That has been a huge plus for Ascot."

Highlighting another example of the Queen's positive impact on the industry, Erskine-Crum – who after leaving Ascot went on to become chief executive of the Levy Board and then the Juddmonte Group – says: "The influence she had on persuading the leading owners and breeders of the last 40 to 50 years to come to the United Kingdom cannot be overstated. One of the prime reasons Sheikh Maktoum, Sheikh Mohammed, Sheikh Hamdan, Prince Khalid, Sheikh Hamad and Sheikh Fahad came here was the Queen, their respect for her, the chance to share her love of racing and because of Royal Ascot, which they all adore.

"They came and they stayed. Of course there were other reasons, but the Queen was a very significant factor. She was also revered in Kentucky, which in a large part explains why so many of the big owner-breeders in America came to Royal Ascot."

In that way, and in so many ways, the Queen shaped British racing – and very much for the better.

"British racing and breeding were immeasurably enriched by the Queen's involvement throughout her long life," says Weatherby. "Her Majesty the Queen was the greatest advocate British racing has ever had. The sport will be forever in her debt."

In Tuesday's Racing Post