‘The Queen’s face lights up’ with the mention of the tape recorder
Two things have shown in all the tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II by the racing and breeding community: her extensive knowledge of the subject and how approachable she is. when the French industry was extremely proud of the fact that the Queen and her mentor John Warren chose the 2015 Acomb Stakes winner Recorder at Montfort et Preaux, now part of Nurlan Bizakov’s Sumbe operation.
The Recorder has two seasons of racing age and his best performer so far is the winner of Finn Blichfeldt’s list. Hot queen —Also his first success on the track as a male — while he has produced 26 individual winners from 105 runners, formed for a fee of €6,000.
While still in the early days of his horse-herding career, the son of Galileo gave Mathieu Alex and Sylvain Vidal’s Montfort et Preaux team a number of unforgettable experiences, including one that Alex described as “the equivalent of having a group 1 winner.”
Alex said: “We were invited to meet the Queen at the royal meeting in June after the first season he stood with us.
“We explained the etiquette to us and then went at teatime to a large room with about 30 people, including William Haggas, Sir Michael Stoute, and many of her other coaches, while The queen sat at the table.
“She stood up – everyone did – and then John Warren said, ‘Mathieu, come with me.’ “
Sitting in a quiet corner of the Arqana Sales complex, Alex’s eyes widen as he describes a most unexpected encounter.
Alex said: “The Queen left the room, followed by John Warren and then Sylvain and me.
“The four of us went to a small room next door. We had prepared a book with pictures of the horse and the whole farm, which we gave her.
“I watched a French TV interview with someone who described a meeting with the Queen and he expressed exactly how I felt on the occasion.
“There was a lot of ritual and formality in the larger group. But the moment we were in that smaller room, and we mentioned Recorder’s name and handed her the book, her face lit up. up and it’s like I’m talking to my grandmother.
“Of course, she knows the horse’s pedigree inside and out and we talked about the dam and its second dam. But there was a real simplicity in the conversation.
“She told us about his bankruptcy and even how he was named. Very quickly I forgot that I was talking to the Queen, she was just a person with a lot of money. share a passion for horses.”