Queen doesn't rein in joy over filly

THE Queen has achieved many things in her chosen sport of racing but none quite so momentous as at Ascot yesterday

THE Queen has achieved many things in her chosen sport of racing but none quite so momentous as at Ascot yesterday

On her own racecourse, and in her favourite week of the year, she became the first reigning monarch to own the winner of the Gold Cup. Predictably, it brought the house down.

Estimate, a four-year-old filly trained in Newmarket by Sir Michael Stoute, was made favourite for the marathon race over two-and-a-half miles, largely through weight of patriotic optimism. The horse and her jockey, Ryan Moore, rose to the challenge heroically.

Despite being sternly challenged throughout the closing stages by horses from France and Ireland, Estimate held on to win by a neck, and was roared to the line by a 75,000 crowd.

Up in the royal box, the excitement of the finish was registered graphically on the animated faces of the Queen and her racing adviser, John Warren, who briefly looked as if he was about to forget protocol and hug the monarch.

The Queen, who had been scheduled to present the Cup, instead received it from the Duke of York, who had earlier accompanied her in the royal carriage. The Princess Royal and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were also present but the Duke Of Edinburgh, still convalescing, was an absentee as his wife fulfilled a long-held ambition.

It was the Queen's 22nd winner at the royal meeting - her first, Choir Boy, came in coronation year - but this was self-evidently the pinnacle. Sir Michael explained: "It will have given the Queen such enormous pleasure. She really loves this game and it is a great recreation for her."

That much was obvious from her demeanour, not just in victory but throughout the day. The Queen adores this race meeting - it is often said to be the first engagement that she enters in her diary each year - and her presence at the head of the royal procession is a post-lunch ritual that engages much of the crowd just as much as the subsequent racing.

Attendance, for Her Majesty, is neither a chore nor a social duty. Her knowledge of bloodstock is remarkable - several of the trainers that she employs averring that she never forgets a name or a line of form.

She habitually visits each of the stables where her horses are trained each spring, and follows their progress avidly.

Yesterday's victory for Estimate, who also won at the royal meeting last year, brought the Queen her first success at the elite group-one level in Britain since 1977. The race is sure to have been replayed many times last night at Windsor Castle, where the royal party habitually stay for the week.

Even the vanquished seemed delighted. Willie Mullins, the Irish trainer of the runner-up, Simenon, said: "This is a fantastic result for racing. Maybe for the first time in my life, I wasn't disappointed to be second."