At the races: A Lifelong passion

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother is renowned for her love of horse racing - - a passion which grew as she bought a string of thoroughbreds.

Her enthusiasm has spanned four decades and more than 400 winners.

But she has never achieved the dream of winning the world's most famous steeplechase - - the Grant National at Aintree.

The closest she came to winning the race was in 1956 with her horse, Devon Loch, ridden by Dick Francis.

Ahead of the field and looking certain to win, the horse collapsed just 50 yards from the finish, unseating Francis and ending the Queen Mum's dream.

She has never again got close to winning the famous race, but that has not quelled her zest for the sport.

The Queen Mum's enthusiasm for racing is said to have started during Royal Ascot in 1949 when leading amateur rider Lord Mildmay of Flete was staying at Windsor castle.

One of the most popular amateur riders of the immediate post-war era, Lord Mildway rode eight winners at Cheltenham, and the Mildway of Flete Handicap Chase, named after him, is still held at Cheltenham.

He is said to have persuaded the Queen Mother that it would be fun to own a steeplechaser.

Tribute race

For the Queen Mum, owning a racehorse was an opportunity to enjoy something independently and away from royal circles.

Nothing can keep her from spending a day at the races and in 1998, in her first public outing after a hip-replacement operation, she spent the day at Sandown Park watching two of her horses.

On another occasion, when the Queen Mum was recovering from an emergency operation, the Queen reportedly travelled to the hospital in Kings Lynn and presented her mother with the trophy which her horse, King's Rhapsody, had won the previous day at Lingfield.

Her devotion to the sport was recognised in 1980 when one of Britain's most popular races - - the two-mile National Hunt Champion Chase - - at the prestigious Cheltenham Festival was renamed The Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Away from the races, the Queen Mother enjoys the outdoors life and used to spend much of her time in the grounds of her Scottish home, on the Balmoral estate, and more recently at Clarence House and Royal Lodge in Windsor.

And in her younger years, the Queen Mum was also known to enjoy salmon fishing, taking her away from her royal duties.

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