Clare Balding reveals Queen Elizabeth 'loved the naughtiness of horse racing' and the jockeys left her in fits of giggles
Queen Elizabeth II was known for her love of horses, owning hundreds of thoroughbreds and scoring more than 1,800 racing victories.
Sports presenter Clare Balding, 52, from Chiswick, London, whose grandfather, father and brother all trained the Queen's horses, said the late monarch loved the “naughtiness” of horse racing.
Speaking on Gyles Brandreth's Rosebud podcast, Clare said: 'There's a jockey called Richard Hughes who was the most beautiful rider, but he used to stand there, for a really long time, in the corner and it made her laugh.
“If you were watching a race with her, which I have, she'd say something like, 'Oh, look at Hughesy in the back, with his butt in the air, like he's got so many horses.'
Clare, who was a leading amateur flat jockey in the late 1980s, learned to ride on a 'little fat Shetland pony', a gift from the late monarch.
Sports presenter Clare Balding, 52, (pictured), whose grandfather, father and brother all trained the Queen's horses, said the late monarch, who died in 2022 aged 96, loved the 'naughtiness' of horse racing
Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Anne celebrate a victory at the Derby Day horse races in 1988
She said: 'She loved that world and was very knowledgeable about horses. And she felt most relaxed and at home, in the stables, far away from the trappings of her royal duties.
“She loved the way the jockeys or the stable boys and girls were with her. I think she liked the mischievous racing.”
Clare added that the late Queen also had a good relationship with the jockeys and loved Frankie Detorri and Ryan Moore.
She claimed that the royal family would make Ryan laugh even though he never smiled in front of anyone. Clare said: 'Because I think she'd say to him, 'Don't be so grumpy'.”
The presenter revealed that the King may now follow in his mother's footsteps after discovering a love for horse racing later in life.
The king was overcome with emotion as he watched his horse Desert Hero win the King George V race from the royal box last year.
Clare said: “He's not traditionally a racing man. He loves horses and is a very good polo player. When he had a winner last year, I think it overwhelmed him how much he felt it for the first time. He really understood.'
After her coronation in 1953, the Queen traveled to the racecourses in Berkshire at least once a year to attend the event – only missing it in 2020 due to Covid lockdowns.
The late Queen Elizabeth smiled as she watched the troops on horses at the Royal Windsor Horse Show
Queen Elizabeth makes Italian jockey Frankie Dettori (R) laugh during presentation after he won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2019
Her Majesty's love of horses began when she was just four, after her grandfather, King George V, gave her a small Shetland pony.
When she was six, she fell in love with horse riding. In her teens she became an accomplished equestrian and continued to ride for pleasure throughout her life.
From her first appearance at the annual Trooping the Color until 1986, the monarch attended the ceremony on horseback.
She first attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show as a horse-mad teenager in 1943. Together with Princess Margaret, the 17-year-old showed off her equestrian talent by winning the Pony & Dogcart class.
The Queen owned several thoroughbreds for racing after initially inheriting King George's breeding and racing stock after his death in February 1952.
A lady-in-waiting taking the then Princess Elizabeth and her younger sister Princess Margaret on a visit to Pets Corner at London Zoo in 1937
In 1974, the monarch's interest in horses was the subject of a documentary title, The Queen's Race Horses: a Private View, which she herself narrated (pictured at the 1978 races)
Her Majesty's golden era as a racehorse owner was in 1953, her coronation year, when her beloved horse Aureole came second to Pinza, the closest the Queen ever came to winning the Derby.
Her Majesty's golden era as a racehorse owner was in 1953, her coronation year, when her beloved horse Aureole came second to Pinza, the closest the Queen ever came to winning the Derby.
She became patron of many equine organizations including the British Horse Society, the Fell Pony Society and the Highland Pony Society.
Elizabeth, known around the world as a racehorse owner and breeder with real expertise, celebrated her love of animals by dedicating life-size statues to two of her horses in Windsor.
In 1974, the monarch's interest in horses was the subject of a documentary title, The Queen's Race Horses: a Private View, which she herself narrated.
The Queen's love of horse racing saw her inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame in the Special Contributor category.
She was honored for her unwavering and lifelong dedication to the sport over the past eighty years.
The Queen, who died on September 8 at the age of 96, sparked a huge love affair with equestrianism in Britain, thanks to her own talents as a rider and breeder (the Queen riding her horse Burmese at Trooping the Color in 1969)
John Warren, who oversaw all of the monarch's racing and horse breeding interests, said at the time that the recognition would be the source of “much inner pride” for the Queen.
The late monarch became the first person to be inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame under the Special Contributor category, after being chosen by an independent panel of industry experts for her outstanding contribution.
In 2022, the Queen attended the Windsor Horse Show and was guest of honor at the equestrian extravaganza A Gallop Through History, the first major event of the anniversary festivities.
According to her racing advisor John Warren, the late monarch “discussed her love for her horses to the end.”
Mr Warren said he spent the weekend before the Queen died in Scotland discussing her horses, as they had done many times before.
“We sat there for hours all weekend strategizing and planning for the future,” he said.