HRM Queen Elizabeth II
1926 -
The English Royal family has been instrumental in Thoroughbred racing through many successions, and no monarch has been more knowledgeable about the sport that Queen Elizabeth II. There was a Royal Stud farm in the time of Henry VIII, and with Charles II, the term Sport of Kings took on new meaning, for the king was so fond of racing that he personally rode in match races. Queen Victoria's son, the Prince of Wales (afterward Edward VII), lent additional prestige to racing in the latter 19th and early 20th century with his Epsom Derby winners Persimmon, Diamond Jubilee, and Minoru.
Both King George V and King George VI were also active in breeding and racing. The year of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, 1953, her Aureole was second in the Epsom Derby and she subsequently raced the winners of each of the other four English classic races. Queen Elizabeth II generally boards a portion of her broodmare band in Kentucky and she has visited the Bluegrass on occasion as a guest at Lane's End Farm.
Marker can be reached from the intersection of East Main Street (U.S. 60) and Midland Avenue (U.S. 60), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
