All horse racing in the UK has been postponed on Saturday in the UK following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
She died peacefully on Thursday afternoon at Balmoral, her Scottish estate, aged 96.The Queen came to the throne in 1952 and her reign lasted over 70 years.All of Thursday’s and Friday’s scheduled race meetings were cancelled following the announcement from Buckingham Palace. Further to this racing in the UK on Saturday will not take place. There will be an extended 9-race card at Doncaster on Sunday which will include the historic St Leger Stakes – a race Her Majesty won as an owner/breeder in 1977 with Dunfermline.
Julie Harrington, Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), said:
“Her Majesty the Queen’s affinity and bond with British racing was enduring and unique, and a number of our sport’s participants have a close, direct relationship with her.It is out of respect for this, and in sympathy with her family including King Charles III, that the sport has taken the decision to continue our suspension of fixtures into Saturday.
“The return of racing on Sunday will see the running of the Cazoo St Leger, one of Britain’s five Classic races and a race which the Queen won with her filly Dunfermline in 1977. This will also provide an opportunity for the sport and its supporters to pay its respects to Her Majesty, for the contribution which she has made to the sport to be marked, and for racing to express its deep gratitude to her and sympathies to her family.”
Cancelling racing on Saturday will also allow the sport, and in particular those people involved who had a close relationship with the royal family, to take in the formal proclamation of King Charles III’s reign on Saturday afternoon.”
The Queen’s death will arguably be most heartfelt among the UK horse racing community than any other sporting discipline. She was one of the most influential patrons in the history of the sport. Her Majesty held close involvement in breeding and racing horses, and was a patron of The Jockey Club and Thoroughbred Breeders Association, and the figurehead of Royal Ascot.