RACING QUEEN MOTHER’S TEAM OF STEEPLECHASERS

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28491, 22 January 1958, Page 5

RACING QUEEN MOTHER’S TEAM OF STEEPLECHASERS

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

(Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 21. Among the last engagements Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hopes to fulfil before she leaves England in January for her visit to New Zealand will be to watch one of her seven steeplechasers, King of the Isle, racing at Lingfield, Kent. The Queen Mother may stay briefly at the home of her trainer, Major Peter Cazalet, who lives in a typical English country mansion, Fairlawne, at Shipbourne, a few miles from Lingfield. Her Majesty frequently visits Fairlawne to see her horses training, sometimes watching them at their daily exercise in the early morning before going on to the local race meeting. It is nearly nine years since she became interested in steeplechasing. In 1949 Lord Mildmay and Major Cazalet interested the Queen Mother, and she and her daughter bought and shared Monaveen, which fulfilled their hopes by immediately winning four races and then running fifth in the Grand National. In the following season he broke a leg and had to be destroyed. e Their Majesties’ next purchase was Manicou, and when, after the death of King George VI, Princess Elizabeth became Queen and inherited the Royal racing stud at Sandringham. the Queen Mother’s enthusiasm for steeplechasing led to her acquiring a stable of jumpers. One of the most successful so far has been Double Star, a six-year-old brown gelding by Arctic Star out of Bright Star. In his five races this season he has won three and come second twice. After winning a handicap hurdle event at Cheltenham worth £SOO. he won the Novice Steeplechase at Sandown, also worth £SOO. Best Win His best win was when the Queen Mother’s jockey, Arthur Freeman, brought the Royal colours—pale blue with buff stripes and a black velvet cap with a golden tassel—first past the post in the race for the Totalisator Investors’ Cup at Newbury. This event was worth £2500 and was over two miles and a half, with 18 fences. Normally a steeplechaser in England reaches his prime between eight and nine years old. and the Queen Mother hopes that Double Star will be successful in several future events. Certainly, Major Cazalet, who trains 35 horses, has a very high opinion of the horse. Another Interesting horse owned by the Queen Mother is Opalescent, a half-brother to the Queen’s famous flat racer. Aureole. Opalescent was owned by the Queen and was bred at Sandringham by Borealis out of I Angelola. He is a five-year-oM gelding, and began his career by winning a race on the flat. He has taken well to steeplechaaing and la

showing great promise. New Zealanders will find when the Queen Mother visits Trentham that she is very knowledgeable about horse racing. She is also interested in detail—how horses are trained, how they are handicapped and started—and it is known that she is looking forward to learning something of conditions in the Dominion. Naturally, she takes a keen interest in the Queen’s horses, and frequently attends a meeting with the Queen and Princess Margaret. One of her chief delights, however, is to see her own string in their immaculate stables at Fairlawne. Trainer’s Success Major Cazalet is one of the most successful trainers in England. An amateur rider before the war—when he served with the Welsh Guards in the Guards Armoured Division—he began training in 1945, when Lord Mildmay had several horses at Fairlawne. Mixed with her successes, the Queen Mother has had a big disappointment. This was when Devon Loch fell when well clear after jumping the last fence in the 1956 Grand National. The horse raced again with some success last season, but has now been retired. It is expected that one of Her Majesty’s first engagements when she returns to England after visiting New Zealand and Australia will be to attend the Cheltenham meeting in mid-March, when Double Star, now having a period off, will be running again.