Founded in the 16th Century, The Royal Stud is the oldest thoroughbred stud in the world and has played an intrinsic role in the development of the thoroughbred. 98% of thoroughbreds descend from Eclipse, who was bred by The Royal Stud and born in Windsor Great Park on the day of the total eclipse in 1764.

The Royal Stud suffered several dispersals during its history, but Queen Victoria re-formed the Royal Stud at Hampton Court in 1851, where the present Queen’s weanlings were raised, with the policy of selling all progeny. In 1888 Sainfoin and Memoir went through the ring, two years later Sainfoin winning The Derby and Memoir winning both The Oaks and the St Leger. At the 1900 sale Memoir’s yearling sister was sold to Baron Hirsch for the record sum of 5,500gns – named La Flèche, she went on to win the One Thousand Guineas, Oaks and St Leger and would have won The Derby, in which she was beaten narrowly, but for poor jockeyship.

King Edward VII was responsible for moving The Royal Studs to Sandringham in Norfolk and founded the Sandringham Stud in 1886, when still Prince of Wales. One of his great foundation mares was Perdita II, who produced the top class racehorse and sire Florizel II; Derby and St Leger winner Persimmon; and Diamond Jubilee, who won the 1900 Triple Crown. The Prince ploughed the prize money from his winning horses into the Estate, particularly the vast walled kitchen gardens, which are now the stallion paddocks.

The Sandringham Stud Book, 1887-1917, on display in the museum at Sandringham, was hand-written by Queen Alexandra and compiled by her as a biographical record of the horses and mares associated with the Sandringham Stud. An inscription on one of the pages refers to King Edward VII’s filly, Witch of the Air, who won the Spring Plate at Kempton Park on 6th May 1910, the day of the King’s death. In his final moments he gained solace from the result.

In the last century, the Studs have housed a succession of successful stallions including Persimmon, Aureole and Shirley Heights. The Queen inherited The Royal Studs in 1952 and currently maintains a band of primarily Flat racing mares. Amongst numerous winners bred by The Queen are seven Group One winners, including the Classic winners Pall Mall, Carrozza, Highclere and Dunfermline.

The Royal Studs now incorporates Sandringham Stud and Friar Marcus Stud (on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk) as well as Polhampton Lodge Stud, near Newbury, and are managed by Joe Grimwade LVO. 

Currently standing at Sandringham Stud are the stallions Motivator (syndicated) and Royal Applause (co-owned). Motivator is managed from Highclere Stud by The Queen’s Racing Manager, John Warren. The Stud has excellent facilities and grazing covering 300 acres for visiting mares and those belonging to Her Majesty the Queen.

How did Queen Elizabeth II enter the breeding world & how difficult was it getting started?  King George V, inheriting the Stud from his successful father King Edward VII, enjoyed racing and breeding, but it was not until 1922 that any race of significance was won. In 1928 Classic glory returned to Sandringham when Scuttle won the One Thousand Guineas. King George VI also won Classics, with Big Game and Sun Chariot, but they had been leased from the National Stud. He did, however, breed Hypericum, winner of the 1946 One Thousand Guineas and the first Classic winner bred by the Royal Stud since Scuttle.

As a treat, George VI allowed his young daughter Elizabeth to attend the 1942 Derby, run at Newmarket, which was only the second racemeeting she had attended. Unfortunately Big Game failed to stay and finished unplaced behind Watling Street. Elizabeth had been given her first pony, a Shetland called Peggy, by her grandfather George V at the age of four and took a keen interest in racing. She had accompanied her father on a visit to Beckhampton to see Big Game and Sun Chariot complete their final pieces of work before the Guineas and trainer Fred Darling recalled the young Princess knowledgeably pointing out each of the horses to her father and talking him expertly through the work. Sun Chariot, temperamental at the best of times, thoroughly disgraced herself and bolted with Sir Gordon Richards into a ploughed field, where she went down on her knees and roared like a bull!

Queen Elizabeth later recalled visiting Sandringham and the sheer pleasure she had felt in touching the velvet-like muzzle of Hypericum, saying she had never before felt anything so soft. She entered racehorse ownership while still a Princess, winning with a filly called Astrakhan, who had been given to her as a wedding present by HH Aga Khan. Her colours at that time were scarlet, purple hooped sleeves and black cap.

Having become Queen, Elizabeth’s first winner, Choir Boy, ran in the colours of the Duke of Norfolk, as Court mourning precluded the royal colours being seen on the racecourse for several months after the King’s death. It was therefore Stream Of Light, when winning the Lancashire Oaks in June 1952, who gave Elizabeth her first success in the royal colours.

The Queen bred and owned her first Classic winner when Carrozza won the 1957 Oaks. She ended 1957 as the Leading Owner and won her second Classic with Pall Mall in the 1958 Two Thousand Guineas, but had to wait until 1974 for another Classic success, when Highclere won the One Thousand Guineas and the French Oaks. In 1977 Dunfermline won The Oaks and the St Leger to bring The Queen’s tally of Classic success to five, The Derby being the only Classic she has yet to win, but the 1977 St Leger remains the last time a Royal Studs horse has won a Classic.

Although she inherited the dams of subsequent Classic winners, Her Majesty also inherited a stud that has often slipped into decline and suffered long spells of lean years with few quality winners. Until only recently this was compounded for the Queen by the political constraints placed upon her stallion choices, preventing her using some of the best bloodlines abroad. Neither does she have the same financial resources available to many of her chief competitors.

won the St James’s Palace Stakes, Gold Vase, Goodwood Cup, Manchester Cup and Jockey Club Cup. Her fourth foal was Persimmon who won the Coventry Stakes on his debut, adding the Richmond Stakes at two, Derby and St Leger at three and the Gold Cup at Ascot and Eclipse Stakes at four.

Perdita II’s next three foals, including a full-brother to Persimmon, were no good as racehorses, but her eighth, another full-brother, was to prove perhaps her best foal yet. Described by his trainer Richard Marsh as difficult to fault and the most handsome horse he’d trained, Diamond Jubilee was a very wilful horse, but won the Triple Crown, as well as the Eclipse.

What has been the best professional decision made by HM The Queen?

 It might also be considered the worst decision, but the sale of Height Of Fashion to Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum was very astute. A daughter of the great Highclere, Height Of Fashion, by Bustino, was an outstanding race mare, but came from a family already well represented at Sandringham. When sent by Sheikh Mohammed to Blushing Groom she produced Nashwan, considered one of the best Derby winners in recent years, as well as becoming the dam of Nayef and Unfuwain. She is also the grand dam of One Thousand Guineas winner Ghanaati through her daughter Sarayir. We can only speculate as to whether Height Of Fashion would have bred a Derby winner for Her Majesty, but the sale price, rumoured to be in excess of £1m, provided a more valuable and long-term boost to the Royal Studs.

What has been the Royal Stud’s greatest disappointment?  Special Leave was a particularly good-looking colt, full of quality, and had every hope of being a live contender for the 1982 Derby (won by Golden Fleece), but sadly broke a leg at the start of the season and had to be destroyed. By Mill Reef, he came from one of the best of the Royal Stud families and his third dam was the One Thousand Guineas winner Hypericum.

While Special Leave never had the chance to realise his potential at all, Edward, Prince of Wales’s One Thousand Guineas winner Thais was denied the chance to realise her potential as a broodmare, succumbing to colic on retirement. Similarly, Persimmon died at 14 and his success as a stallion up to then suggested he would have made a far greater impact on the breed.

What is considered the Royal Stud’s greatest breeding triumph?  It must surely be Eclipse, bred by the Duke of Cumberland in 1764. The Duke had been given Marske as a yearling, who carried his purple silks to victory in the 1754 Jockey Club Plate, but Marske was originally deemed unworthy of the better mares at the stud and was only allowed to cover farmers’ mares, at a fee of half a guinea. 

Later more valuable mares were sent to him, including Spiletta, who foaled a small and common colt to him on April Fool’s Day 1764, the same day a total eclipse of the sun occurred. So little was thought of Eclipse, as the foal was appropriately named, that he was sold to Mr Wildman.

Eclipse made his debut at the age of five on 3^rd May 1769, in a race run over four heats, as was the norm of the time, He won the first heat by a wide margin, winning the second heat by a distance and giving rise to the phrase ‘Eclipse first, the rest nowhere.’ Captain O’Kelly, who had correctly predicted the result during betting on placings, used his winnings from the race to buy a half-share in Eclipse and eventually bought him outright in 1770. Nevertheless, Eclipse had originally been bred for the Royal colours, even if he didn’t race in them, and still remains one of the greatest of racehorses and sires.

What has been HM The Queen’s most satisfying day at the sales?  The Queen flew to Doncaster to see her horse, High Veldt, run in the St Leger. Although he had previously run second to the incomparable Ribot in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, he ran badly at Doncaster, but her trip was not in vain. She visited the Doncaster Sales and inspected some of the yearlings, personally selecting two fillies, to bring new blood into the Royal Stud. Though Petronella ultimately proved a disappointment, Stroma, a 1,500gns purchase, proved a very astute buy and in 1961 foaled Canisbay, who later won the Eclipse Stakes for The Queen.

What has been Her Majesty’s proudest moment in racing?  Having owned five Classic winners and numerous other top class horses, leading in any one of them would have been a thrill for Her Majesty, but her greatest pride must surely come as their breeder. The Queen decides upon all matings, as well as personally choosing the names of her horses, and there is always so much satisfaction involved in breeding a winner.

There is no doubt that as both breeder and owner one of her highlights came in 1974 at Chantilly racecourse in France. Highclere, later to become the granddam of Nashwan, had already won the One Thousand Guineas and was now poised to become the first horse in history to win both the Guineas and the Prix de Diane (often called the French Oaks). The Queen made a private visit to France to watch the race and her attendance brought in a record crowd to Chantilly, all hoping to catch a glimpse of ‘La Reine’. Their hopes came true when Highclere, under a terrific ride from Joe Mercer, saw off 21 rivals to win impressively by two lengths from Comtesse De Loir.

The Queen was full of excitement and came down to lead her winner in. The French crowd surged forward and looked as though it would overwhelm Her Majesty, but her racing manager and three friends managed to link arms behind her and afford her some protection. Trainer Dick Hern, on the wrong side of the throng, was late in getting through to greet his winner! It was a wonderful feat by a great filly, who became the highest money-winning filly, a record she held for a considerable number of years, as well as a momentous occasion for the thousands who had come to see ‘La Reine’.

Has there been anybody in the industry who has had an impact on The Queen’s racing career?  The Queen’s racing managers must surely be among her favourite advisors, as well as friends. Lord Porchester took on that role in 1960 and on his death at the age of 77 in 2001 (by which time he was Lord Carnarvon).

Her Majesty told the press that she had lost her best friend. Manager of the Royal Studs, Joe Grimwade, and current racing manager John Warren this season have the privilege of handling one of Her Majesty’s best horses in recent years, Carlton House.

The best horse the Queen has bred or sold?  Height Of Fashion is undoubtedly the best horse the Queen has ever sold and, by coincidence, the best she has bred must probably also go to a filly. Though Carrozza and Pall Mall were exceptionally good, both Highclere and Dunfermline were dual Classic winners, Dunfermline defeating no less a horse than Alleged in the 1977 St Leger. It would be hard to select one above the other, but Highclere must probably be given the edge.

What other aspirations would Her Majesty like to achieve in the future?  A Derby winner! It would be wonderful, too, to relive those scenes at Chantilly, if The Queen got to lead in Carlton House as an Arc winner in October.