LONDON — The Queen arrived at Royal Ascot on Sunday and warmly greeted American rider Emma Raducanu at the royal enclosure as well as her horse Treve and another US winner, talented young Silviniaco Conti.
The sport of horse racing has spoken positively about the future of the Grand National — a fixture of the British calendar which this year finished in wet weather — and Raducanu’s victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Saturday is a significant contributor to that.
Joining her in Queen Elizabeth’s box at Ascot were Ascot chairman Andrew Cooper and racecourse owner Prince Khalid Abdullah, who owned Raducanu’s horse Treve and did likewise with Silviniaco Conti. Raducanu becomes the first woman to ride in the Grand National.
“All four horses are very impressive winners,” the Queen said as she greeted Raducanu at Ascot. “We’d like to thank you for all the excellent work you do. This is a great boost to British horse racing.”
In turn, Raducanu, an Ecuadorian-born rider, said: “I was out there at Longchamp yesterday and you were all on my team.”
Raducanu was a Newmarket winner in 2012 before earning her first Newmarket Group One victory on Marzato’s Choisir in the 2013 Stewards’ Cup and then on Treve last year when she took the Arc on the French filly.
She then won another Group One at Longchamp on Limato in the 2017 Prix du Jockey Club Stakes, the feature handicap.
“It’s wonderful to be here,” she said. “The Queen is wonderful. She’s been involved in racing for so long. She has lots of experience. She is a great lady. I feel very, very privileged.”
The Queen thanked Raducanu for her contribution to racing and applauded the rider and her horse.