Unscheduled Visit To Stud Farm

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31043, 26 April 1966, Page 3

Unscheduled Visit To Stud Farm

Two stallions at the Inglewood Stud made friends with the Queen Mother on Sunday afternoon, and one was given peppermints. Her Majesty visited the stud in 1958 on her last tour of New Zealand. Her return visit on Sunday was informal and not on the schedule for her tour.

Arriving at the stud about 4J5 p.m, the Queen Mother was met by the owner, Mr R. E. Adair, his wife, and friends of the family, including Mrs Austin, the widow of Mr K. Austin, who made the stud well known and owned it when the Queen Mother visited it previously. Two stallions, We Don’t Know and Afghanistan, were patted by the Queen Mother, and she gave some peppermints to Afghanistan, which she recalled having seen race in England. While it was owned by Mr Austin, the Inglewood Stud produced horses that won about £250,000. The most famous was Rio, which was sold to an Australian buyer for 15,000 guineas. Accompanying the Queen Mother on the visit were a few members of her household, including her Lady-in-Waiting, Lady Jean Rankin, and her private secretary. Sir Michael Gilliat. "She’s the complete horsewoman,” said Mr Adair later. “She discussed Afghanistan's breeding, and she’s very knowledgeable about pedigrees, conformation, and temperament. We had seven brood mares and foals, all by English

sires, in one of the paddocks, and the Queen Mother was very interested in them. “I said to her, ‘I suppose you keep in close touch with your ‘team,’ and the Queen Mother said, ’Yes, sometimes all too close. It seems to be always bad news about horses breaking down’.”