Carlton House carries Queen’s Derby dream for the Classic that eludes her

IT was a surreal telephone call that John Warren will never forget. As Carlton House galloped to a famous victory at York, becoming favourite for the Epsom Derby, he was providing the Queen with a running commentary on his mobile phone.

The pressure was on. He could not afford to make a mistake. Nor could horse and rider. The slow early pace on the Knavesmire. The select field bunching together. The pace quickening. And then, as the crowd roared, jockey Ryan Moore steering the Royal colt between two horses to win the totesport Dante Stakes – the most prestigious of Derby trials.

“I talked to Her Majesty through the race and she was concerned about the lack of pace, but when he went through the gap she let out a yelp!” recalled Mr Warren, the Queen’s racing manager. “The Queen will be at Epsom and this will mean a lot to her.”

At least Mr Warren will be spared commentary duties this Saturday. Resplendent in morning dress, he will, instead, be stood alongside his “boss” in the Royal box high above Epsom Downs for the Derby – still the supreme test of a thoroughbred racehorse. He may also hear slightly more than a “yelp” if Carlton House, reported to be in scintillating form on the gallops, prevails.

Yet, while Mr Warren’s nerves may be in shreds by then, and trainer Sir Michael Stoute even more fretful, the 85-year-old Queen will be unflappable. For, while many racing aficionados regard Carlton House as a near-certainty to land the one English Classic still to elude Her Majesty, she appreciates the glorious uncertainty and, on occasion, the unforgiving nature of the sport.

After all, a Royal horse remains the most famous loser of all time – the Queen Mother’s Devon Loch who came to grief on the Aintree run-in when he had the 1956 Grand National at his mercy.

The stoicism shown by the Queen Mother in defeat left a lasting impression on the Queen who had been cheering horse and rider at the top of her voice until that fateful moment. Three years earlier she had come within touching distance of Derby glory when her horse Aureole narrowly failed to overhaul the newly-knighted Sir Gordon Richards who was belatedly winning the Epsom showpiece for the only time on the giant Pinza.

This was an extraordinary race – just three days after the Coronation had captivated the nation in a manner, said the legendary commentator Sir Peter O’Sullevan, akin to Kate Middleton’s wedding to Prince William. As the world prepared to watch Princess Elizabeth become Queen, and rushed out to buy televisions that were still in their infancy, she was asked by a lady-in-waiting whether all was well.

“Yes thanks,” replied the Princess. “The Captain just rang to say Aureole went fine.”

The Captain was Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, the then Royal trainer who was reporting on the horse’s last piece of work before Epsom. No wonder Her Majesty looked content in the horse-drawn Coronation carriage. Those phone calls – occasionally snatched between official duties – have not changed as Carlton House’s trainer observed. “The Queen was up in Newmarket before the Dante and she adores her horses, they are a subject that really engage her,” said Sir Michael, the five-times Derby-winning trainer who began his career at Pat Rohan’s Yorkshire stables. “She’s a real horsewoman and I speak to her before she has a runner and then after the race. It was a nice easy call to make after the Dante!”

The Queen’s passion for racing – her favourite possessions as a child were a collection of toy horses – runs deep. Her great uncle, Edward VII, owned the 1909 Derby hero Minoru, the only horse to carry a reigning monarch’s colours to victory in this ultimate one and a half mile test.

Yet the first Derby to be witnessed, in person, by horse racing’s greatest ambassador was the 1945 war-time renewal staged at Newmarket and won by Dante, the last Yorkshire-trained horse to win Flat racing’s blue riband race. When her father, King George VI, died seven years later, Aureole was one of the horses she inherited. He also became a successful sire at one of the Royal studs that enabled the Queen, as a top breeder, to become the country’s most successful owner before she could no longer rival racing’s emerging forces from Ireland and the Middle East.

Ironically, it is thanks to Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai who heads the Godolphin racing operation synonymous with the irrepressible jockey Frankie Dettori, that the Queen acquired Carlton House. named after the London residence, in Pall Mall, of the Prince Regent, later King George IV.

In the autumn of 2009, he wanted to buy the Queen’s headstrong Highland Glen for his son, Sheikh Mansoor, to race in Dubai. Yet, because the horse was, occasionally, reluctant to enter the starting stalls used on the Flat, Her Majesty did not want to enter into a financial transaction.

She offered Highland Glen as a gift – with Sheikh Mohammed sending Her Majesty four yearlings (unproven one-year-old horses) in return. Carlton House was one of them.”

If this strapping colt does prevail, it will be one of the greatest horse racing stories of all time. Sir Peter O’Sullevan, still regarded as the Voice of Racing, says his one regret was not being fortunate enough to call home a Derby winner for the Queen.

He says a Royal victory would probably surpass the scenes witnessed when the gallant Red Rum – “He’s coming home like a fresh horse” – won a historic third Grand National in 1977. Brough Scott, the racing journalist, broadcaster and historian, concurs. Recalling how Her Majesty gave Sir Peter a rare interview after Highclere, a filly that she bred, won the 1,000 Guineas, he ponders whether a Derby victory would prompt the Queen to given an acceptance speech. He thinks not, given that she has been so assiduous at separating her public duties with a sport that she regards as a “pleasure” and form of escapism.

“When she’s racing, she knows that she is among friends – hence you rarely see bodyguards,” added Mr Scott who is helping the Racing Post compile a book chronicling the Queen’s involvement with racing. “If Carlton House wins, it will be tremendous for the Queen, the country and it will also re-enforce racing’s position at the heart of national life.”

Like others, Mr Scott says racing is a great leveller – illustrated by Her Majesty’s Promotion, the 7-2 favourite for the 45th John Smith’s Cup at York, being caught in the final furlong by the 20-1 outsider Arcalis, even though the winning rider, Robert Winston, had dropped his whip. Not even the brilliance of Kieren Fallon, a jockey riding at the top of his game, could help the Stoute-trained Promotion from veering left in the closing stages because of fatigue. Races are won and lost on such small margins, as Willie Carson, who rode Dunfermline to Oaks and St Leger victory in 1977, testifies.

Now a BBC pundit, the diminutive former champion described the Oaks win, in Silver Jubilee year, as “one of the greatest moments of my career”.

“Great for Her Majesty. Great for Dick Hern, the trainer. Great for the career of W Carson,” he told the Yorkshire Post. “My only regret was that I did not have a Union Jack to wave as we returned to the winner’s enclosure. The St Leger at Doncaster was altogether different because we weren’t expected to win – everyone had turned up expecting Lester Piggott to win on Alleged. It was a battle royal. The only time Alleged was beat. I think Lester went for home too early – the one time I didn’t mind seeing his backside! I didn’t panic or switch my stick because Dunfermline was in a good rhythm.

“We came close on the run-in, but there was a big Yorkshire cheer when we passed the post. And then the stewards’ inquiry. Lester said I wouldn’t lose the race – but I didn’t believe him. There was no question of Lester letting the Queen win – L Piggott’s wallet always came first. You always knew when the Queen was coming to see her horses on the gallops – Dick Hern’s Land Rover would be washed the day before. That was the clue.”

The Queen last’s Derby runner was Hern’s Church Parade in 1981 – the year when the ill-fated Shergar won at a canter. “I thought he was a very good horse, but it wasn’t to be,” rued Carson. “When I got my OBE, I said to Her Majesty, ‘You’ve got a great chance of winning the Derby’. I was wrong then. Probably 30 years wrong if Carlton House wins, as he should.”

Any jockey asked to don the purple jacket and scarlet sleeves that denote a Royal horse feels priviliged – regardless of whether they are Lester Piggott, the greatest Derby jockey of all time, Willie Carson, Carlton House’s rider Ryan Moore or Malton’s Andrew Tinkler who rode the Queen’s Barbers Shop in last year’s Hennessy Gold Cup over steeplechase fences at Newbury.

“There’s nothing like it. You get stick from the lads for getting ready three hours too early because you want to look smart,” says the Yorkshire horseman who has ridden several winners for Her Majesty.

“A Royal winner of the Derby will be great for racing. The Queen has wowed Ireland and then she had President Barack Obama staying at Buckingham Palace. Winning the Epsom Derby will mean even more to her than hosting the President, but she’ll never admit it.”

As for big-race jockey Ryan Moore, a reserved individual, he will simply do his own thing – like 12 months ago when he won the Derby on Workforce.

“I’ve got to meet the Queen quite a few times, I feel at ease with her,” said the former champion jockey. “There is the potential to be very famous – for five minutes at least – but I’ll worry about that after the race. If we win.”

THE QUEEN’S PREVIOUS CLASSIC WINNERS

Horse: Carrozza

Race: 1957 Oaks

Jockey: Lester Piggott

Trainer: Noel Murless

Two days after winning the Derby on Crepello, Lester Piggott completes a Classic double by a short head. Carrozza only competed once more, finishing fourth, but the jockey has great memories of the race.

“Being led in by Her Majesty remains one of the proudest moments of my riding career. I still treasure the cuff-links she sent me to mark what turned out to be my sole Classic success in the royal colours,” he said.

Horse: Pall Mall

Race: 1958 2,000 Guineas

Jockey: Doug Smith

Trainer: Cecil Boyd-Rochfort

Pall Mall was trained by Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, a gentle giant of the turf at 6ft 4in, at Freemason Lodge, Newmarket – the stables now occupied by Carlton House’s handler, Sir Michael Stoute.

As well as being champion owner, the Queen was a regular on the gallops – she would combine visits with her regular stays at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where the Royal studs are based.

Horse: Highclere

Race: 1974 1,000 Guineas

Jockey: Joe Mercer

Trainer: Dick Hern

Not only did the Queen own the winner but she had also bred Highclere. Afterwards, she sent the horse’s Bradford-born jockey Joe Mercer this note: “I was sad that I had to dash back to London and so did not have the opportunity to thank you.

“For once I don’t remember much about the race owing to the excitement, but I do know that a home-bred Guineas winner has given me more pleasure than anything for a long time.”

Horse: Dunfermline

Race: 1977 Oaks

Jockey: Willie Carson

Trainer: Dick Hern

The Queen was not present at Epsom because of her Silver Jubilee celebrations but this did not prevent the Queen Mother leading the party as Willie Carson recalled with fondness.

“After the win, I went upstairs with the Queen Mum who was over the moon, beaming from ear to ear, and we spoke to Her Majesty on the telephone, there and then,” he said.

“I would guess the Queen Mum had had a small bet.”

Horse: Dunfermline

Race: 1977 St Leger

Jockey: Willie Carson

Trainer: Dick Hern

On an unforgettable afternoon at Doncaster, the Queen’s filly outbattled the Lester Piggott-ridden Alleged – one of the greatest stayers’ of all-time.

Yet, while Her Majesty was hosting James Callaghan, the then Prime Minister, at her Balmoral retreat, a 20-minute stewards’ inquiry only added to the tension before the result was confirmed.

It was the only time Alleged was beaten.